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- 2. A dried herb with a woody stem and tiny leaves from an aromatic perennial evergreen, indigenous to the Mediterranean. May have first been cultivated in the Levant. Ancient Egyptians used it in embalming. Ancient Greeks used it in baths and as incense, believing it brought courage. Spread through Europe by the Romans who used it to purify their rooms and "give an aromatic flavor to cheese and liqueurs". In the European Middle Ages, the herb was placed beneath pillows to aid sleep and ward off nightmares. A common component of bouquet garni and herbes de Provence.
- 3. A bright green flowering plant native to the central and eastern Mediterranean. Believed to have originally been grown in Sardinia and cultivated around the 3rd century BCE. First cultivated in Britain in 1548, though literary evidence suggests it was used in England in the Middle Ages, as early as the Anglo-Saxon period. The name comes from a merger of Old English "petersilie" and Old French "peresil", via Latin, via a Greek word meaning "rock celery".
- 6. Made from the reddish covering or aril of the nutmeg seed. Similar to nutmeg in flavor but less sweet and more delicate. Dried pieces are flat, smooth, horn-like, and brittle, about 1-1/2" long.
- 9. Derived from the flower of a crocus, the stigma is dried as threads. Imparts a rich golden hue to dishes. Origin is unknown, though modern-day Iran, Greece, and Mesopotamia have all been suggested, as early as the Bronze Age. Detailed in a 7th century BCE Assyrian botanical list. The Romans carried this spice to Gaul and the spice returned to France in the 8th century CE with the Moors and again with the Avignon papacy in the 14th century CE.
- 10. Made from grinding a seed of a dark-leaved evergreen tree that produces a warm, slightly sweet taste.. First found in eastern Indonesia, the spice came to India in the 6th century CE, then further west to Constantinople. By the 13th century, Arab traders had pinpointed the origin of nutmeg to the Indonesian islands, but kept this location a secret from European traders.
- 12. Another perennial herb, the French variety is one of the four "fines herbs" used in cooking. Has a flavor and odor profile reminiscent of anise. The French variety is sterile and can't be grown from seeds. It is grown by root division.
- 13. Greenish-grey leaves of a perennial evergreen shrub and a member of the mint family with a savory slightly peppery flavor. Native to the Mediterranean, the Romans referred to it as the "holy herb" and employed it in religious rituals. Charlemagne recommended the plant for cultivation in the early Middle Ages. Has long had a reputation for healing properties. "Le Menagier de Paris" (1393), in addition to recommending it in a cold soup and a sauce for poultry, recommends infusion of the leaves for washing hands at table.
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- 1. The fruit of a perennial woody flowering vine originally native to South or Southeast Asia. Known in Indian cooking since at least 2000 BCE. So valuable that it was used as collateral or currency in postclassical Europe. Alaric, king of the Visigoths, included 3,000 pounds of pepper as part of the ransom he demanded from Rome when he besieged the city in the fifth century. Its exorbitant price during the Middle Ages – and the monopoly on the trade held by Italy – was one of the inducements that led the Portuguese to seek a sea route to India.
- 4. Needles from an aromatic shrub native to the Mediterranean. First mentioned in a cuneiform stone tablet circa 5000 BCE. Its first appearance in England is unknown, though probably brought with the Romans when they invaded in the 1st century. The first recorded instance is credited to Charlemagne in the 8th century CE when he ordered it grown in monastic gardens and farms. Found in most herbal texts by the 14th century and widely used for culinary and medicinal purposes.
- 5. Aromatic flower buds of a tree. The word in this form first found in English in the 15th century CE from the Latin "clavus" meaning nail. Originally only found on the "Spice Islands" in eastern Indonesia, they have been found in a burned house in Syria dated to 1720 BCE and reached Rome in the 1st century CE.
- 7. A perennial herb with sweet pine and citrus flavors. Indigenous to the Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Levant. Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as a symbol of happiness. The Greeks believed it was created by Aphrodite and the Romans believed increased lifespan. Used by Hippocrates as an antiseptic.
- 8. Inner bark from several tree species with a strong, spicy flavor. The word has been in English since the 15th century. Early Modern English used the word "canel", derived from the Latin for "tube". Imported to Egypt as early as 2000 BCE. The first Greek reference is in a poem by Sappho in the 7th century BCE. According to Pliny the Elder, a Roman pound's worth (11.5 oz) cost up to 1,500 denarii, the wage of fifty months' labour
- 11. The rootstalk of a flowering plant. First found in English in the mid-14th century and in Old English before that. Originally from Maritime Southeast Asia. A cultigen, meaning it has been deliberately bred and did not exist in a wild state. After making its way to India, it was written about in China as early as 475 BCE. it was carried by traders into the Middle East and Mediterranean by the 1st century CE. In 14th century England, a pound of this root cost as much as a sheep.