Cinnamon, pepper, cloves and nutmeg are common seasonings on our kitchen shelves. We take them for granted.
Back in the 1400s, the search for such spices spurred the ocean voyage that led to Columbus' journey across the ocean. The voyage was about more than finding gold.
Middle Eastern and North African merchants had a monopoly on the spice trade. Empires grew rich providing spices desperately needed to flavor and preserve food, embalm the dead, and make perfumes. Wealthy ladies wore lockets filled with spices so they could sweeten their breath.
Europe was on the very end of the spice trail and paying exorbitant prices. At one point, a pound of nutmeg was more valuable than a pound of gold.
Columbus persuaded Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain that he could sail west across the ocean and find a new route to the East, a gateway to India and China where spices and gold could be found.
On Aug. 3, 1492, he set sail from mainland Spain with his three ships: the Pinta, the Nina and the Santa Maria. He restocked at the Canary Islands and left there on Aug. 6.
The first land Columbus sighted, on Oct. 12, 1492, turned out to be a small island in the present-day Bahamas. He named it San Salvador. Because he thought he was in India, he called the inhabitants "Indians." When he discovered no riches, he sailed on in hopes of finding the silks and spices of China.
On Oct. 28, he thought he had reached his goal when he landed on the shores of Cuba. But it wasn't to be.
Upon Columbus' return to Spain, he had no riches or spices to present to the king and queen. But his voyage, perhaps not fully appreciated at the time, opened a New World to Europeans — an inevitable event made possible in 1492 by Christopher Columbus.
