Lecture 17: 1492—Globalization and Fusion Cuisines
On one of these voyages in 1500 under Cabral, heading out into
the Atlantic to reach South Africa, they actually bumped into South
America, which is basically why Brazil becomes a Portuguese
possession, too. The result is that Lisbon became the largest and wealthiest port
in Europe, and the Portuguese successfully cut out the Venetians,
bringing not only more spices to Europe, but also in such great
quantities that eventually the price will go down. In the long run, by
the 17th century, spices are no longer such a prestigious item. They
go out of fashion in elite cooking because everyone could afford
them. Throughout the 15th century, the Portuguese were getting going, and
their neighbors, the Spanish, were casting a jealous eye over the
border. In fact, they were pretty preoccupied themselves. The ruling
couple, Ferdinand and Isabella, decided that they wanted their new
joint kingdom (Castile and Aragon) to be completely Catholic. To
that end, they sought to complete the Reconquista by conquering
the very last Muslim province on the Iberian Peninsula (Granada)
and to expel all Jews from the kingdom. While they’re busy with these plans, a Genoese merchant shows
up with a great idea: to sail westward around the globe to reach
Asia and pick up the same spices that the Portuguese were about to
get. Columbus’s plan didn’t appeal to the Portuguese, to the English
King Henry VII, or to the French. Finally, he went to Spain and
presented his ideas to Queen Isabella, who felt threatened by the
news of Diaz rounding the Cape of Good Hope.The Discovery of the New World
In 1492, Columbus he set off with three dinky ships and landed on
a small island in the Caribbean—either San Salvador or Watlings
Island. Columbus was convinced, until his dying day, that he had
discovered islands immediately adjacent to Japan and China. It is
clear from Columbus’s logbook that he was desperate to fi nd spices,