I’m starting a new project today – well really it’s an improvement (hopefully) on one I completed recently. This is the first photograph for it and I expect I will probably share some of the others on PBASE over the coming weeks too.

Basically I’m looking at the global nature of what we eat and trying to represent that in photographs. I’m doing it for a very special reason which at the moment I’m too scared to share in case it all goes pear-shaped on me so as and when I know the outcome, I’ll tell all then.

This photo is designed to depict the importance of spice in our food and to celebrate its far-flung origins.

In the photo are:

Garlic – originating in central Asia and, as far as I can see, used the whole world over to flavour food and to reduce cholesterol and blood pressure (can you see where this is going – it’s work related)
Ginger – no-one knows the exact origin of ginger, it’s grown in all the hot places of the world, particularly the West Indies, Africa and China. It’s good for motion sickness and is an antioxidant. In the middle ages, ginger was so expensive that 1lb of ginger cost the same as a whole sheep!
Chilli – it comes from South America and is used widely in medicines for eczema and dermatitis. It’s also used in dishes from all parts of the globe – every continent has at least one country where the chilli is widely used. It has no relationship to black pepper at all, yet it’s always referred to as a pepper.
Nutmeg – originally from Indonesia has gastric benefits in small doses but is toxic if used in large quantities. Interestingly my research shows it to be used by people trying to wean themselves off cocaine and crack because a few spoonfuls gives a ‘high’ but isn’t addictive
Cinnamon is a native of the West Indies and South America and also China where a different variety can be found. My sister is very allergic to this one. It can have use in insulin dependent diabetes.
Cardamom – this is an interesting find, it’s actually related to ginger – how about that! It comes from India and is often used as a love potion so, to anyone who is looking to enhance their love life – try some….it’s got to be worth a try!

I can totally relate to cardamom’s ability to generate warmth and a feeling of well-being, having cooked one of the dishes from Jill’s wonderful Southern Cook Book that contained cardamom and felt its beautiful scent permeate every pore. What a delightful experience that was.

Now my head is full of ‘spice routes’ and global trade in a much more exotic sense than the movement of medicines and market research. That’s such a good feeling – I now ‘put away’ my work hat for the day having learned much and having excited myself with the thought of how over the centuries people have traded in these glorious flavours and built them into the cookery and traditions of places far away. That to me is something of a result. It’s good every once in a while to see the bigger picture.