[Sca-cooks] fashion and spices (was Grains of Paradise)

[Stefan li Rous]

Regina suggested:
  <<< I've always wondered if we don't see the dropping off of the  
use of Grains
of Paradise because of this very thing.  Wars in Africa which cut the  
trade
routes so thoroughly and so long that people got out of the habit of  
using
them.  Real Pepper began to be available at a semi-reasonable price  
so that
by the time Grains of Paradise came back there wasn't a market for  
them.  >>>

I think it might be exactly the opposite of this.

The taste of spices was appreciated, but they were also sought after  
and used because they were rare and exotic and if you had money and  
power you could have them and others couldn't. And you could flaunt  
this.

I don't have the timelines in front of me, but I assume others such  
as Bear do or can develop them. Towards the end of our period various  
spices became more available because of new trade routes, changing  
commercial situations and military alliances. The price then fell on  
those spices and they lost some of their exoticness and uniqueness.  
The end of our period is also when there was a big change in the use  
of spices in food and how they were used. I don't think these are  
unrelated. Of course this didn't happen suddenly nor consistently  
across all spices. Some hung on to their allure longer because they  
were rarer longer. Others because a higher portion of their appeal  
was due to taste rather than their exoticness.

To try to draw some modern parallels:

How many people are buying the latest game machine, xbox,  
Playstation3 etc. because they just have to have that increased  
computing power or the new games? Many of those games have very few  
games for them when they first come out. How many kids really need  
that latest techno toy, such as Tickle Me, Elmo? and how many are  
being bought by parents as status symbols.

Some people are buying those tech toys because when they are in  
limited supply they can turn around and sell them on ebay for a tidy  
profit. Hmmm, you don't think we can find period equivalents of that,  
do you?

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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