Today,spices are pretty common in every home and or camp. And we can buy our favorite spices for a few dollars, and they last for moths. It wasn’t always simple easy or available.

The Silk road has been dated back to the second century B.C. and was used all the way up to the eighteenth century A.D. The part that inspired this blog starts in 1271. A young merchant traveled The Silk road and wrote about his adventures.

It was in this period of history that spices were introduced to the West. Turns out Spices was better than Gold. Wealth wise to status as a rich man. The man who brought it to the west was Marco Polo. A young Ventian merchant, who went his first time with his father and uncle. While the Silk road spans most of Asia , and China. for commerce trade with the west, it was only used for the commonly known silk trade of the Asian provinces.

For twenty four years Marco Polo was over in the orient and Mongolia. Even was an Amassador for the dreaded Kublai Khan. He also made it to China where he lived for seventeen of those twenty four years. Seeing things that westerners never knew about.

It was also during that time in history that the Spice trade became a world economic stimulant, much like oil is today. The import of spices created companies like the West India trading company. Yes, It wasn’t just for the Pirates of the Caribean.

The spice trade also has been attributed to the making of pirates famous, such as Captain Kidd and Blue beard. Whether the accounts are true is hard to say. But Hollywood made a mint from the spice trade. The seven voyages of Sinbad, Even Alladin was spun from the times of Marco Polo.

Now Marco Polo was not the first westerner to have ventured to the Far East. Just the first to write his experiences down and publish them.

I will tell that story another day. I want to convey how stuff like Mustard seed and Curry spice Black pepper. Cayenne pepper and such things we take for granted had a world economic impact. And still does.

If the Spice trade were to suddenly stop,. Not only would food be very bland, the economic impact would cripple the entire planet. Maybe not as bad as it would have two hundred years ago. But worse than the Covid 19 pandemic has.

I find this is a good place to stop. I hope you enjoy this post. I will have another Silk Road tale next week. Thank you James W. Sims IV