Old Spice

The sack of Rome in AD 410—an event that signaled the beginning of the end of the Western Roman Empire—was carried out by Alaric, the first king of the Visigoths. Prior to the sacking, Alaric decided to blockade the city to force the starving Roman citizens to surrender. The ransom Alaric demanded to end the siege consisted of the usual gold and silver—and 3,000 pounds of black pepper. Alaric knew that pepper was the most valuable item inside Rome’s city walls—and he could increase its worth even more in trade with other Germanic tribes.

It may be just the staple seasoning sitting alongside the saltshaker on household tables, but pepper was once a very big deal. In fact, no trade item did more to shape the world than black pepper, the humble spice that Pliny the Elder once described as possessing “obnoxious pungency.” But you could get salt from anywhere. For centuries pepper only came from one place, and everyone had to have it. Black pepper wasn’t just worth its weight in gold—it was worth many times its weight in gold. Called everything from “the king of spices” to “black gold,” it remains the most traded spice in the world. Once accounting for more than 80% of the global spice trade, black pepper was responsible for spawning dynasties, triggering conquests, and fueling discoveries that reshaped the world. Even today, people around the world use more pepper than all other spices combined. And that’s nothing to sneeze at ...

For pepper production, Kerala is ground zero

Black pepper—or piper nigrum—is a wild, climbing vine that is native to the lush landscapes of the southern Indian state of Kerala, along the Malabar Coast (which means, fittingly, Pepper Coast). The flowering vine is cultivated for its fruit—the peppercorn. Technically, it’s a fruit, not a spice, and belongs to a class of plants called drupes. Think peaches or cherries. Black pepper gets its spicy warmth from a compound called piperine, and has been in use in India as a food seasoning, preservative, and for medicinal purposes for at least 4,000 years—and probably a lot longer.

Black, white, red, and green peppercorns all come from the same piper nigrum plant—the difference is just a matter of ripeness and method of preparation. The plant grows on vines that use trees for support, and in general, the berries are picked when they are a reddish color. Once picked, they’re dried, and the skin surrounding the seed wrinkles and becomes black. The seed itself is white, and when it’s soaked and has the skin removed, white pepper is the result. Red peppercorns are just allowed to mature longer. So, whatever the color, they’re all from the same fruit.

Pepper vines wind their way up to the sky searching for sunlight in whatever way possible, which means the best fruits are often very high up. Because women dressed in saris would have a difficult time climbing up trees to pluck the best plants, black pepper is only harvested by men in Kerala. While India remains a major player in black pepper production, Kerala is no longer the world’s largest producer (that would be Vietnam). But Kerala’s climate is still optimal for plant growth, conditions that are essential for pepper cultivation. In fact, when Vasco de Gama asked to take a pepper vine home with him, the Indian king happily granted him permission, knowing that the vine would be useless in Portugal.

In a bit of irony, the chili pepper replaced black pepper as the “hot” element of South Indian dishes such as curries. A different plant altogether, the chili pepper, a native of the Americas, was brought to India by de Gama and other Portuguese traders in the 16th century. But the Portuguese weren’t the first to spread word about the king of spices beyond India’s borders to the rest of the world ...

Pepper’s grinding journey to conquer the world

Peppercorns first appeared outside of India sometime around 1,200 BC in Ancient Egypt. Then, Arab merchants along the Silk Road brought it to the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, where it became especially prized by the ancient Greeks and Romans. After the fall of Rome, Arab traders held a monopoly on the supply of peppercorns for centuries, keeping it exceptionally scarce and astronomically expensive. With overland trade routes to India blocked and heavily taxed, European monarchs then began financing daring expeditions to seek a water route to the Far East expressly to obtain its precious peppercorns.

It was during this Age of Exploration that Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama successfully reached the shores of India—which would set off a battle of the colonial powers like Portugal, Holland, and Britain to dominate the lucrative spice trade. (Yeah, Columbus was also hoping to make it to India but took a wrong turn. No pepper, but at least we got America out of it.) The trade of peppercorns was responsible for the immense wealth of Italian city-states like Venice and Genoa and other European ports.

As pepper and other spices spread throughout the world, they remained very expensive and were considered a luxury item for the longest time—something that was commented on all the way back in ancient Roman times ...

In the 1st century AD, noted Roman historian Pliny the Elder expressed his frustration with both the expense and Rome’s dependence on the spice. “There is no year in which India does not drain the Roman Empire of fifty million sesterces (the equivalent of more than $100 million),” he wrote. “Why do we like it so much? Some foods attract by sweetness, some by their appearance, but neither the pod nor the berry of pepper has anything to be said for it. We only want it for its bite—and will go to India to get it. Who was the first to try it with food? Who was so anxious to develop an appetite that hunger would not do the trick? [It] grows wild yet we value [it] in terms of gold and silver.” Apparently, Pliny had a rather bland palate ...

But Pliny was an outlier, the rest of the world couldn’t live without black pepper and its title of the “king of spices” is well deserved. 

More fascinating facts about the king of the spices

Gesundheit!—The earliest evidence of pepper consumption outside of the Indian subcontinent comes from around 1200 BC in Egypt—we know this because the mummified remains of Ramesses the Great were found to have peppercorns stuffed in his nostrils.

Peppercorns that aren’t peppercorns—Szechuan peppercorns aren’t peppercorns at all but are instead from the prickly ash tree in China. The same goes for pink peppercorns, which are derived from a South American shrub.

The first peppercorn is on me—Once used as currency, people used black pepper to pay rent, taxes, and dowries. It was a luxury item and symbol of wealth, but “regular” people could purchase a single peppercorn for special occasions.

What, no virgins?—European Christians believed that pepper came from the land of Prester John, a mythical king whose subjects existed in an earthly paradise surrounded by forests of pepper.

Wouldn’t the water put out the fire?—Arabs, who dominated the pepper trade for several centuries, believed the spice grew behind waterfalls guarded by fire-breathing dragons.

Wait, there’s more—Some Islamic scholars wrote that the pepper spice was formed by the tears of Adam when he discovered that he had been banished to Earth.

Does this tea taste funny?—The ancient Greeks used black pepper to reverse the effects of hemlock, the same poison that Socrates calmly sipped in a cup of tea to end his life.

Just sprinkle some pepper on it—The Greeks also used black pepper to cure ailments such as hemorrhoids, diarrhea, and other digestive complications.

Riddle me this—Saint Aldhelm, a 7th century Bishop of Sherborne, is credited with composing the following riddle about black pepper: “I am black on the outside, clad in a wrinkled cover, Yet within I bear a burning marrow. I season delicacies, the banquets of kings, and the luxuries of the table, Both the sauces and the tenderized meats of the kitchen. But you will find in me no quality of any worth, Unless your bowels have been rattled by my gleaming marrow.” A bowel-rattling riddle if we ever heard one!  

Take in fragrant spice markets and learn more about India’s native spices while on Soul of India: The Colorful South.