Little Village Spices - Spice Origins
These days you don’t have to conquer the world to get premium spices


But it wasn’t nearly as easy to say “pass the pepper” in centuries past. Throughout history, nations have battled to control the spice trade, beginning as early as 1000 B.C. The strong smells and flavors were sought after for cooking as well as preserving food—even covering up the sometimes foul taste of food that was deteriorating but still edible in those days.

Early humans wrapped meat in leaves from nearby bushes. They quickly learned the leaves left a nice flavor, and so did nuts, seeds, berries and bark. By the Middle Ages some spices were considered so valuable they were treasured nearly as much as money. And in the case of pepper, it was considered actual currency. Other valuable spices included such favorites as ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg—perfect for making a pumpkin pie, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves!

Arabs and Italians, near India and the Mediterranean, were the world’s first spice traders. Centuries later, various European countries dominated the spice trade, including Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and British. Of course it’s easy these days to spice up your food with all kinds of exotic tastes—and you don’t have to command your own sailing fleet to do it. Spices are affordable and readily available. And when you use Little Village Spices, you can shake on great taste whenever you want because we do the blending for you.

Do your own exploring with Little Village Spices and buy from our spice list today.