Cumin, Camels, and Caravans

A Spice Odyssey

Nonfiction, Food & Drink, International
Cover of the book Cumin, Camels, and Caravans by Gary Paul Nabhan, University of California Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Gary Paul Nabhan ISBN: 9780520956957
Publisher: University of California Press Publication: April 7, 2014
Imprint: University of California Press Language: English
Author: Gary Paul Nabhan
ISBN: 9780520956957
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication: April 7, 2014
Imprint: University of California Press
Language: English

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 family’s 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 routes—the 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 Caravans demonstrates that two particular desert cultures often depicted in constant conflict—Arabs and Jews—have 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.

 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

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 family’s 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 routes—the 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 Caravans demonstrates that two particular desert cultures often depicted in constant conflict—Arabs and Jews—have 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.

 

More books from University of California Press

Cover of the book Race, Place, and Suburban Policing by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Leopold’s Shack and Ricketts’s Lab by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Dreams That Matter by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Lessons from a Dark Time and Other Essays by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book When I Wear My Alligator Boots by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book The Modern World-System III by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Raise by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Dodging Extinction by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Three Kingdoms by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Margins of the Market by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Paisanos Chinos by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Thank You, Anarchy by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Soldiering through Empire by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Jazz/Not Jazz by Gary Paul Nabhan
Cover of the book Wine and Place by Gary Paul Nabhan
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy