5 ms·

> They were also used as a way to mask unpleasant tastes and odors of food, and later, to keep food fresh [1] Perhaps food wasn't always so fresh back then. [

> They were also used as a way to mask unpleasant tastes and odors of food, and later, to keep food fresh [1] Perhaps food wasn't always so fresh back then. [1] https://www.mccormickscienceinstitute.com/resources/history-of-spices https://www.mccormickscienceinstitute.com/resources/history-...

idlewords 4y ago
This theory never made any sense to me. Why mask the taste of substandard food with incredibly expensive condiments?
- boomboomsubban 4y ago
  Because the alternative is starvation. It's not like great food is available for much of the winter in many places. If you couldn't eat the somewhat rotten pie, you didn't eat.
  - idlewords 4y ago
    So in that situation trade the costly spices for ten non-rotten pies, is my point.
    - boomboomsubban 4y ago
      There aren't ten non-rotten pies available. As winter progresses, almost all the food is getting progressively more rotten. This story is of a Norwegian ship, a place where they regularly ate fish soaked in lye. Their food options weren't great.
      - idlewords 4y ago
        Yes, I give up, you are right. As winter progresses in Norway, everything starts to go off in the heat and the only way to avoid starvation is to season the rapidly decomposing food supply with spices worth more than their weight in gold. I withdraw my erroneous comment.
        baremetal 4y ago
        "Spices can also exert antimicrobial activity in two ways: by preventing the growth of spoilage microorganisms (food preservation), and by inhibiting/regulating the growth of those pathogenic (food safety; Tajkarimi et al., 2010)"
        satvikpendem 4y ago
        Food can decompose even in the winter, but you likely knew that already given your sarcastic reply.
  - andymcsherry 4y ago
    People don’t make a bunch pies in fall and then store them for winter. They’ll store rawer ingredients, like flour, live animals or dried and pickled veggies and meats that don’t perish as easily.
    - boomboomsubban 4y ago
      People would often make a pot pie, which got it's name from literally being the pot they cooked the food in. Everyday they'd remove the top, add more ingredients, and cook it again. I'm unsure of which regions did this, but I didn't mean they baked a bunch of pies in the fall.
      - satvikpendem 4y ago
        Also known as a perpetual stew: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_stew https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_stew

idlewords 4y ago

This theory never made any sense to me. Why mask the taste of substandard food with incredibly expensive condiments?

boomboomsubban 4y ago
Because the alternative is starvation. It's not like great food is available for much of the winter in many places. If you couldn't eat the somewhat rotten pie, you didn't eat.
- idlewords 4y ago
  So in that situation trade the costly spices for ten non-rotten pies, is my point.
  - boomboomsubban 4y ago
    There aren't ten non-rotten pies available. As winter progresses, almost all the food is getting progressively more rotten. This story is of a Norwegian ship, a place where they regularly ate fish soaked in lye. Their food options weren't great.
    - idlewords 4y ago
      Yes, I give up, you are right. As winter progresses in Norway, everything starts to go off in the heat and the only way to avoid starvation is to season the rapidly decomposing food supply with spices worth more than their weight in gold. I withdraw my erroneous comment.
      - baremetal 4y ago
        "Spices can also exert antimicrobial activity in two ways: by preventing the growth of spoilage microorganisms (food preservation), and by inhibiting/regulating the growth of those pathogenic (food safety; Tajkarimi et al., 2010)"
      - satvikpendem 4y ago
        Food can decompose even in the winter, but you likely knew that already given your sarcastic reply.
- andymcsherry 4y ago
  People don’t make a bunch pies in fall and then store them for winter. They’ll store rawer ingredients, like flour, live animals or dried and pickled veggies and meats that don’t perish as easily.
  - boomboomsubban 4y ago
    People would often make a pot pie, which got it's name from literally being the pot they cooked the food in. Everyday they'd remove the top, add more ingredients, and cook it again. I'm unsure of which regions did this, but I didn't mean they baked a bunch of pies in the fall.
    - satvikpendem 4y ago
      Also known as a perpetual stew: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_stew https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_stew