Nutmeg was once so rare that it grew mainly on one volcanic island just 2 miles long and less than a mile wide.
Run island is a molecule in the Banda Island chain, which is a speck in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. Yet, this tiny island's nutmeg made it the focus of centuries of war for spices.
In the West, Europeans were hungry for nutmeg. It's slightly sweet taste and pungent aroma added excitement to bland foods such as puddings, potatoes, vegetables, and mulled ciders.
But, cost of the spice was soaring. Middle Eastern traders maintained a monopoly on secret trade routes and raised prices until nutmeg was as expensive as gold. In the late 1400s Europeans set out to find the secret sources of spices in the Far East.
Little is known of how the Arabs administered the spice trade. But, by the 1500s, with the new printing press in full operation, Europeans documented their successful search for trade routes — and the bloody massacres and warfare for control of Run, the spice islands, and for the spice monopoly. The spice monopoly changed hands many times from the Portuguese to the British to the Dutch.
Today, the island of Run with its 2050 souls is nearly as isolated as it was during the spice wars 500 years ago. Run is 12 hours away by boat from major islands. No planes. No internet. No electricity (except for three hours at night). No cars. No doctors. Besides nutmeg, Run is known today for being part of a most remarkable real estate transaction, thanks to the spice wars. In 1667, the British and Dutch ended a 60-year war by trading islands. The Dutch got Run and cemented their monopoly on the spice. The British got an unpopulated, unremarkable island in the New World: Manhattan.
