They ’re staple fiber on every American dining table and the required ingredients in virtually every European cuisine , so inseparable that polite society dictates they always be passed together . Salt and pepper are the undisputed champions of condiments — but how did they get so pop ?
Table salt — aka atomic number 11 chloride or NaCl — has been a favorite seasoning since the daybreak of clock time . Our body require three to eight Gram of NaCl to perform a variety of metabolic functions and , as such , our desire for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks is so intrinsical that “ salty ” is one of the four elemental type of taste bud ( along with sweet , sour , and bitter ) .
Because we call for saltiness to live , it has been a extremely valued commodity throughout history . Salt has helped build early civilisation , driven empires , and even been used as currency . Roman soldiers were paid in salt , or “ sales event ” in Italian ( and “ sal ” in Spanish ) , which grew into the modern English Son of “ earnings . ”
Interestingly , until of late , salt and sugar were often used simultaneously . From papistical time through the Renaissance , chefs routinely served salted and sugared dishes at the same time . It was n’t until the 17th century in France that Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and sugar were separated . It was royal cooks for Louis the XIV that began service salted dishes throughout the meal to brace appetite and only wait on sweet nutrient at the end to overeat the appetite — signifying an goal to the repast .
Black black pepper , though not universally require like saltiness , is an every bit - assess commodity throughout the West — one so pop that it has arguably changed the course of story . However , it was n’t always this highly prized . You see , pitch-black black pepper is native to Southeast Asia — specifically Thailand , Vietnam , Malaysia , and the Malabar Coast of India , where it has been a staple in local cooking since the second century BC .
Like many substantial spices , pepper has historically been used as both a condiment and a medicine to treat a variety of malady from irregularity , hernias , and heart and soul disease to diarrhea , joint pain in the neck , and centre infections . However , not all Piper nigrum are produce equal . During the Roman era , long pepper ( piper longum ) was the en vogue capsicum pepper plant mintage — not our familiar black pepper ( piper nigrum ) . And since long capsicum was both hot ( thus more potent allot to the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. ’s medical organisation ) and reputedly reduced sluggishness while boost virility , it was very popular among the upper classes . Long pepper was so popular that other R.C. castes began clamoring for exchangeable but less pricey spicery , which monger were more than felicitous to provide in the descriptor of black peppercorn . And since black capsicum grow further West than its longer cousin , the black variety was far well-situated and cheaper to import back to the imperium .
Over the next few hundred years , fatal pepper ’s popularity skyrocket — so much so that when Alaric the Visigoth send away Rome in the 5th century , he demanded 3,000 pounds of peppercorns as part of his ransom . It was even used as a form of up-to-dateness in some case , much like salt before it .
After the Roman Empire fell , Persian ( and later Arab tycoon ) take control of spice export routes from India to the Mediterranean , while Italian power monopolized the European spicery barter . This led directly to the rise of many Italian city - states , and take on an significant role in the emergence of the Renaissance , thanks to the massive income afforded by the lucrative trade — which also included cinnamon , clove , nutmeg , and ginger .
Remember , during the Middle Ages , spices were an extremist - luxury item open only by the rich , who were uncoerced to drop large bucks to enliven up their meals . What ’s more , this spice monopoly ( both the local Italian - dominated market and the Islamic - insure overland trade routes ) is what entice Portugal to feel a sea path to China , guide to the find of the Americas . With countries willing to expend that sort of effort and money on a spiciness , it ’s small wonder that peppercorn was often referred to as Black Gold .
Black pepper ’s popularity miss off a bit in the former 17th C , following the discovery of chili pepper in the New World and the enlargement of the European diet beyond gruel . But it came roar back during the Enlightenment . It was , once again , the royal chefs of Louis XIV ’s court that elevated black black pepper to its current status . Louis the XIV was a notoriously finical feeder and preferred his intellectual nourishment as lightly seasoned as possible — he considered flavour a vulgar enactment . In fact , he banned outright the habit of all eastern spicery beyond saltiness , capsicum , and parsley ( deemed more wholesome and dainty than ruddy Elettaria cardamomum ) . Black pepper ’s spiky , mordacious flavor provide just enough flush to the King ’s meals without overwhelming the tasting of the underlying foods to overgorge his needs .
The near - exclusive use of salt and pepper as mesa - side condiments has since disseminate throughout Europe and the Americas . They still are n’t as coarse in Asia , where ingredients like soya bean sauce , duck sauce , and huitre sauce are all used during the preparation leg and provide sufficient sodium to the dish ( interpret table salt and pepper unnecessary ) . These days , Americans exhaust more than 6.5 million oodles of table table salt and some 27,000 tons of calamitous pepper each year . Only sesame and mustard greens source are imported in smashing quantity than pepper . But among them , only black pepper is fit for a king . [ Slashfood – slating – Straight Dope – Wiki – KEW – Image : Jane Rix/ Shutterstock , AlexussK/ Shutterstock , Krzysztof Slusarczyk/ Shutterstock ]
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