{"product_id":"the-taste-of-conquest-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-three-great-cities-of-spice","title":"The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice","description":"\u003cbody\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eTitle: \u003c\/b\u003eThe Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor: \u003c\/b\u003eMichael Krondl\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN: \u003c\/b\u003e9780345480835\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/b\u003eBallantine Books\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished: \u003c\/b\u003e2007\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding: \u003c\/b\u003eHardcover\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage: \u003c\/b\u003eEnglish\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Note: \u003c\/b\u003eModerate edge wear. Binding good. May have marking in text. We sometimes source from libraries. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher Description: \u003c\/b\u003eThe smell of sweet cinnamon on your morning oatmeal, the gentle heat of gingerbread, the sharp piquant bite from your everyday pepper mill. The tales these spices could tell: of lavish Renaissance banquets perfumed with cloves, and flimsy sailing ships sent around the world to secure a scented prize; of cinnamon-dusted custard tarts and nutmeg induced genocide; of pungent elixirs and the quest for the pepper groves of paradise. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Taste of Conquest offers up a riveting, globetrotting tale of unquenchable desire, fanatical religion, raw greed, fickle fashion, and mouthwatering cuisine- in short, the very stuff of which our world is made. In this engaging, enlightening, and anecdote filled history, Michael Krondl, a noted chef turned writer and food historian, tells the story of three legendary cities- Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam- and how their single-minded pursuit of spice helped to make (and remake) the Western diet and set in motion the first great wave of globalization.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the world's peoples were irrevocably brought together as a result of the spice trade. Before the great voyages of discovery, Venice controlled the business in Eastern seasonings and thereby became medieval Europes most cosmopolitan urban center. Driven to dominate this trade, Portugals mariners pioneered sea routes to the New World and around the Cape of Good Hope to India to unseat Venice as Europes chief pepper dealer. Then, in the 1600s, the savvy businessmen of Amsterdam invented the modern corporationthe Dutch East India Companyand took over as spice merchants to the world.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sharing meals and stories with Indian pepper planters, Portuguese sailors, and Venetian foodies, Krondl takes every opportunity to explore the world of long ago and sample its many flavors. The spice trade and its cultural exchanges didnt merely lend kick to the traditional Venetian cookies called peverini, or add flavor to Portuguese sausages of every description, or even make the Indonesian rice table more popular than Chinese takeout in trendy Amsterdam. No, the taste for spice of a few wealthy Europeans led to great crusades, astonishing feats of bravery, and even wholesale slaughter.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As stimulating as it is pleasurable, and filled with surprising insights, The Taste of Conquest offers a fascinating perspective on how, in search of a tastier dish, the world has been transformed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/body\u003e","brand":"Ballantine Books","offers":[{"title":"The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice | Michael Krondl | Hardcover | 9780345480835 | Used: Good | History 1594620","offer_id":47447042195714,"sku":"1594620","price":7.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0609\/3327\/5906\/files\/81umOz_QjpL.jpg?v=1772855653","url":"https:\/\/boswellsbooks.com\/products\/the-taste-of-conquest-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-three-great-cities-of-spice","provider":"Boswell's Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}