Origins
The Saffron Harvest
Three weeks a year, a family becomes wealthy
Iran
The Archive
Stories
Food as covenant. Food as currency. Food as war.
8 stories
Rituals
The Third Cup
In Ethiopia, coffee is a three-hour ceremony
Ethiopia
Hospitality
The Salt Covenant
To share salt was to make an oath that could not be broken
Mali
Wars
The Nutmeg Wars
Manhattan was traded for a spice island. The Dutch thought they won.
Indonesia
Chemistry
The Umami Scroll
A Tokyo chemist discovers the fifth taste
Japan
Wars
The Bread Riot
Marie Antoinette never said it. The problem was real.
France
Routes
The Pepper Debt
A spice that paid ransoms and bankrupted empires
India
Chemistry
The Fermentation Mothers
Every great food depends on a culture that cannot be bought
USA