How far would you go for a different spice on your table? Two blocks? Or would you go overseas to have your favorite spice topping your French fries?
In the early 15th century the Portuguese crossed the seas to have pepper and other spices from India on their table and on the European market. A trip like that in that moment of history was possible because Portugal improved the art of making maps and developed the caravel, a sailing ship also used by the rival of Portugal at that time, Spain.
Can you imagine yourself spending many months on a sailing trip? Wouldn’t you take some of your favorite foods with you? That is what the Portuguese did when preparing the caravels for the trip – supplying the ships with salt, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, cows, pigs, chickens, oranges, spinach, wheat, sugar, cookies, wine and water.
Can you imagine yourself spending many months on a sailing trip? Wouldn’t you take some of your favorite foods with you? That is what the Portuguese did when preparing the caravels for the trip – supplying the ships with salt, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, cows, pigs, chickens, oranges, spinach, wheat, sugar, cookies, wine and water.
In 1500, on their way to India, the Portuguese, under the command of Pedro Álvares Cabral, accidentally reached a new land, Brazil, which was already inhabited by about 5 million natives divided into several different tribes. Pero Vaz de Caminha, the chronicler of the expedition, described in his letter the first contact between the native Brazilians and the Portuguese. According to him it was an awkward moment because of the differences between the two cultures. The native Brazilians were astonished with the chickens since they had never seen the animals before. Native Brazilians domesticated small animals like capybaras and peccaries and also ate other animals they hunted or fished. The vegetables they ate were basically manioc, corn, peanuts, beans and sweet potato. When offered water brought by the Portuguese, the natives spat it out. You can imagine how bad the water must have tasted having been stored in the ship for so long with no refrigeration! It not only tasted horrible but also had a lot of germs! Because of rotten food and old water kept in their ships many Portuguese got sick or even died during the trip.
In 1510, Portugal conquered Goa, a city in India, and established itself as the main country responsible for trading spices with Europe. At that time Portugal did not have much interest in Brazil since it was making money with the spices from India. But when the competition with rivals from Spain, France and England for the same market increased, Portugal turned its eyes to Brazil. It started exploring a tree called “pau-brasil”, from which a substance was extracted to stain fabrics. In 1516 Portugal initiated the European colonization of Brazil and with that started spicing up the food and culture of that country.
The native Brazilians learned from the Portuguese a taste for salt. The natives started eating more salt not only because it was tasty but also for its quality as a preservative for meats. On the other hand, the Portuguese had to learn from native Brazilians the use of manioc since European wheat did not adapt in Brazilian lands. The manioc flour became part of recipes for cakes and other dishes of Portuguese cuisine.
Another curiosity of the relationship between native Brazilians and Portuguese is that the Portuguese themselves became the food of some native Brazilians. Some of the Brazilian tribes were anthropophagic, which means they ate human flesh. But the natives did not eat human flesh for gluttony. They ate human flesh to obtain the qualities of their enemies. Thus, the native Brazilians never ate cowards. Only brave Portuguese prisoners ended up eaten.
The history of coexistence between Portuguese and native Brazilians is full of conflicts and some collaboration. The natives collaborated in the exploitation of pau-brasil in exchange for cheap European products. When the Portuguese began to learn the anthropophagic habits of native Brazilians, they started distrusting the natives and collaboration between the two people stopped. The Portuguese made the natives their slaves. But the natives fought against their colonizers to the death or ran away to distant locations.
Because it was so difficult to make the natives slaves, Portugal decided to look for slaves in another continent, Africa. African slaves became very important for the economy in Brazil due to the production of sugar cane, a plant introduced to Brazil by Portugal. Sugar was called “white gold” at that time. Unfortunately, African slavery lasted a long period in Brazil, from 1550 to 1888.
Ships coming to Brazil from Africa brought not only slaves but also new food, like: sesame, different varieties of coconut, okra, and different varieties of banana. The Portuguese ships transported some Brazilian food to Africa, like manioc and peanuts.
Despite all the pain caused by Portugal to native Brazilians and Africans they contributed to the transformation of their food habits and development of a beautiful culture, the Brazilian culture, so rich because of its mixture of ethnicities.
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Images
Cloves - Picture taken by Cynthia Santos
Manioc - Picture taken by Valentina (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trembom/335580385/)
The native Brazilians learned from the Portuguese a taste for salt. The natives started eating more salt not only because it was tasty but also for its quality as a preservative for meats. On the other hand, the Portuguese had to learn from native Brazilians the use of manioc since European wheat did not adapt in Brazilian lands. The manioc flour became part of recipes for cakes and other dishes of Portuguese cuisine.
Another curiosity of the relationship between native Brazilians and Portuguese is that the Portuguese themselves became the food of some native Brazilians. Some of the Brazilian tribes were anthropophagic, which means they ate human flesh. But the natives did not eat human flesh for gluttony. They ate human flesh to obtain the qualities of their enemies. Thus, the native Brazilians never ate cowards. Only brave Portuguese prisoners ended up eaten.
The history of coexistence between Portuguese and native Brazilians is full of conflicts and some collaboration. The natives collaborated in the exploitation of pau-brasil in exchange for cheap European products. When the Portuguese began to learn the anthropophagic habits of native Brazilians, they started distrusting the natives and collaboration between the two people stopped. The Portuguese made the natives their slaves. But the natives fought against their colonizers to the death or ran away to distant locations.
Because it was so difficult to make the natives slaves, Portugal decided to look for slaves in another continent, Africa. African slaves became very important for the economy in Brazil due to the production of sugar cane, a plant introduced to Brazil by Portugal. Sugar was called “white gold” at that time. Unfortunately, African slavery lasted a long period in Brazil, from 1550 to 1888.
Ships coming to Brazil from Africa brought not only slaves but also new food, like: sesame, different varieties of coconut, okra, and different varieties of banana. The Portuguese ships transported some Brazilian food to Africa, like manioc and peanuts.
Despite all the pain caused by Portugal to native Brazilians and Africans they contributed to the transformation of their food habits and development of a beautiful culture, the Brazilian culture, so rich because of its mixture of ethnicities.
************
Images
Cloves - Picture taken by Cynthia Santos
Manioc - Picture taken by Valentina (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trembom/335580385/)
