Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey [Hardcover]

Gary Paul Nabhan takes the reader on a vivid and far-ranging journey across time and space in this fascinating look at the relationship between the spice trade and culinary imperialism. Drawing on his own familys history as spice traders, as well as travel narratives, historical accounts, and his expertise as an ethnobotanist, Nabhan describes the critical roles that Semitic peoples and desert floras had in setting the stage for globalized spice trade.

Traveling along four prominent trade routesthe Silk Road, the Frankincense Trail, the Spice Route, and the Camino Real (for chiles and chocolate)Nabhan follows the caravans of itinerant spice merchants from the frankincense-gathering grounds and ancient harbors of the Arabian Peninsula to the port of Zayton on the China Sea to Santa Fe in the southwest United States. His stories, recipes, and linguistic analyses of cultural diffusion routes reveal the extent to which aromatics such as cumin, cinnamon, saffron, and peppers became adopted worldwide as signature ingredients of diverse cuisines.Cumin, Camels, and Caravansdemonstrates that two particular desert cultures often depicted in constant conflictArabs and Jewshave spent much of their history collaborating in the spice trade and suggests how a more virtuous multicultural globalized society may be achieved in the future.


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Gary Paul Nabhanis the W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair for Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Arizona. He is the author of several award-winning books, includingWhere Our Food Comes From, Coming Home to Eat, Gathering the Desert,andArab/American.

List of Illustrations
List of Recipes
List of Spice Boxes

Introduction: The Origin of Species
1. Aromas Emanating from the Driest of Places
2. Caravans Leaving Arabia Felix
3. Uncovering Hidden Outposts in the Desert
4. Omanis Rocking the Cradle of Civilization
5. Mecca and the Migratil“!