Spice guys

Bartholomew Diaz, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan and Vasco da Gama all have one obvious thing in common. They were all explorers. Why though? Were they looking for some excitement? Something to spice their up lives?  Spice, yes they were all looking for an alternate spice route.

Since the beginning of time man have used spices and herbs in food and for many other uses, medical or not.

The Ancient Greeks were fond of mixing herbs in their bathwater of r the pleasant aroma and students used to place rosemary wreaths on their heads as they believed this would increase their memory and powers of concentration.
 

In Europe, during the middle Ages, mothers were said to have stitched cloves of garlic into their children’s clothing to protect them against epidemics throughout the long winter months. Sage was used to whiten the teeth and thyme and rosemary sprinkled over floors to perfume and disinfect rooms.

Many herbs have a turbulent history of love and passion, but perhaps the most well-known is basil. In Keat’s poem “Isabella, or Pot or Basil”, Isabella kept the head of her murdered lover in a pot of Basil and watered it with her tears!

However, since these times, the use of herbs as a food flavoring has increased and there is seldom a recipe that does not include a variety.

There was a point in history where the spice trade was done over land and was exceptionally expensive. The Ottoman Empire had taken control of Constantinople and was charging hefty taxes. This forced the Europeans to find a better route to India.

Portuguese first crossed the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 on an expedition led by Bartholomew Diaz Just nine years later in 1497 on the orders of Manuel I of Portugal, four vessels under the command of navigator Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, continuing to the eastern coast of Africa to Malindi to sail across the Indian Ocean to Calicut in south India -the capital of the local Zamorin rulers. The wealth of the Indies was now open for the Europeans to explore; the Portuguese Empire was the earliest European seaborne empire to grow from the spice trade.

Vasco da Gama

Calicut

Christopher Columbus was the first to set foot on the New World when, in 1492, in an attempt to reach the Indies by sailing westward, he made landfall on an island in what is now The Bahamas. Believing to have in fact reached India, he named the natives "Indians".

By now the Portuguese had complete control of the African sea route and as such, the Spanish, if they were to have any hope of competing with Portugal for the lucrative trade, had to find an alternate route. Their first, early, attempt was with Christopher Columbus, but he ended up finding an unknown continent in between Europe and Asia. The Spanish finally succeeded with the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan.

Years later, 1924 Robertsons Spice Experts have journeyed around the world in search of only the finest and purest herbs & spices. The knowledge of Herbs & Spices have been handed down through the generations and the Spice People at Robertsons have proven through the decades to deliver only the very best to its consumers they offer their consumers over 60 different types of flavors and flavor combinations.

As a result, today Robertsons is South Africa’s biggest and best loved brand bringing the flavors of the world to our consumers spice racks.

We all love the Robertson Spices and it is a South African house brand and so in place in every home as chops on a rugby day.

So for the last year Reuben Riffel has been the face of Robertson Spices and at first, I must admit, I wasn't too excited about the advertisements that he did but it is now part of our evening. News at seven and a new Reuben combination.

Here is the great news....

You don’t have to wait for the advertisement to come on you can simply got to the Robertsons web site and get all you combinations on there. They have a few way of doing it. They have the normal day to day recipe’s, then they have a tab that says combinations so that you can go see what works together and then see what you have in the pantry. The best part for me about this site is the “I feel like” search tab. Here you can say steak, chicken or anything you want to cook and it gives you a few different recipes. I like this because we all have our range of recipes we try but this give us a option to try something different with the same old ingredients.

Here is the link

http://www.robertsons.co.za/

Happy cooking!