Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
From the brains behind Brains On, this is the Moment of Um. Answering those questions that make you go... Moment of Um comes to you from APM Studios. I'm Anna Weigel. Um...
I'm winding down after a long day with my favorite hobby, watching infomercials. Oh, shh, here's one of my favorites. At Scintilla's Spice Shop, we source the finest quality herbs, seasonings, and toothsome treats from all over the world. We have cinnamon from Sri Lanka, nutmeg from the Banda Islands in Indonesia, oregano from Greece, black pepper from...
And Hungarian paprika. Hey, wait just a single second. What was that last one? Hungarian paprika? Lovely stuff. No, no, no, no, no. The one before that. Black pepper. Where did you say it was from? Okay, you got me. I don't know where black pepper comes from. Well, I know thanks to Piper who sent in this question to Moment of Um headquarters. Hi, I'm Piper. I live in Thailand and my question is...
Where does pepper come from? Hi, my name is Dr. Jenna Schultz. I am a historian and I teach at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. Pepper is only found in tropical areas. It's actually grown on a plant. The pepper is the fruit that's grown on a vine. And those fruits are then harvested, boiled in water, and then dried to become the black peppercorn.
Scientists today are starting to explore if there are any medicinal benefits, including for digestive problems. The biggest use of pepper, of course, is to flavor our food, and it's used in many recipes around the world.
It already appeared to be in use by the ancient Chinese, Greeks, and Romans. This means that there were early trade routes already connecting these far-flung civilizations to ancient India. We even have cookbooks from the ancient Romans that have recipes that include pepper. Since it was so hard to get pepper, merchants had to haul it long distances. And it was very expensive for people living in these ancient civilizations to purchase it. It was a luxury item for the wealthy.
So much so that even in the Middle Ages in Europe, a pound of pepper was equal to several days' pay for an average worker. People traded in pepper like they did gold and silver. As European shipping technologies improved, kingdoms set sail to find new routes to gain easier access to pepper and other spices starting in the late 1400s. The
the Portuguese, Dutch, and English all at one time or another fought for control of these spice routes. With more and more pepper available thanks to this trade, the cost slowly went down, making it more accessible to everyone. Um, um, uh,
My goodness. I thought black pepper just came from the inside of a pepper grinder, but it's so much more interesting than that. It's true. Peppercorns have been spicing up our cooking for more than 4,000 years. It's even been found in ancient Egyptian tombs as a tasty seasoning for the afterlife. Now I know. Thank you so much. You bet, person on TV that I am somehow having a conversation with. Now tell me more about that cinnamon. ♪
If you like this episode, take a second to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you want a tail wagging good time, check out the Brains On podcast where we have a whole episode all about whether dogs know that they're dogs. If you have a moment of um question, we'd love to help you answer it. Drop us a line by going to brainson.org slash contact. See you next time and the next day and every weekday. Until then, um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um
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