pirates
A can of paprika, an air-dried spice made of the fruits of the chili pepper family.

A can of paprika, an air-dried spice made of the fruits of the chili pepper family.

"We made port in Martinique, and we were unloading the cargo. Precious stuff, those spices. Worth their weight in gold—literally."
―Jean Magliore[src]

A spice was a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance primarily used for flavouring, colouring or preserving food. Sometimes a spice was used to hide other flavours. Spices were distinguished from herbs, which were parts of leafy green plants also used for flavouring or as garnish.

History

"I hate that insipid Mistress Ching! There was a wondrous selection of tea and spices coming to me from Shanghai and she co-opted it."
―Barbara Huntington[src]

When European explorers first sailed to the East Indies, they were hypnotized by the fabulous wealth they found. The gold, silver, ivory, silk, and exotic spices lured traders hungry for a profit.[1] Spice became one of many cargoes delivered by the East India Trading Company.[2]

The Santa Catalina crewman Turi claimed that the notoriously cruel pirate Sharkheart Sam once cut off a sailor's ear and forced him to eat it with a knife and fork and a dash of pepper.[3]

Around the adventures of young Jack Sparrow, the notorious thief and pirate Captain Left-Foot Louis attempted to steal a cargo of silk and spices from the merchant ship the Seraph when she was docked in Martinique.[4] When young Jack accidentally activated the power of the Timekeeper and stopped time itself, the first thought that came to his mind was to row to the closest island, find a town, and then "borrow" all the gold and the riches and spices that he could find.[5] Several years later, on their first voyage from Calabar to the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow and the EITC merchant ship the Wicked Wench carried ivory, a chest of gold ingots, some valuable woods, bales of coir (coconut husks), and spices.[2] On one occasion the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Esmeralda captured a flute loaded with tea and spices.[6]

By the quest for the Shadow Gold, the EITC official Barbara Huntington once ordered a wondrous selection of tea and spices from Shanghai, but the goods were stolen by the Pirate Lord Mistress Ching.[7] The Indian Pirate Lord Sri Sumbhajee spent at least fifteen years raiding and pillaging almost every ship that entered the port of Bombay, filling his chests with the EITC gold, jewels, and spices.[8] Trying to distract Teague from the subject of his travels, Jack Sparrow picked up one of the egg-shaped silver things on the table, asking if they were salt shakers, and nearly poured pepper in his eye as he examined it.[9]

In the late 1720s, a shrimper traded spice for "long pork" (a euphemism for human flesh) on Isla de Pelegostos, the home of the cannibal tribe Pelegostos Tribe.[10] The East India Trading Company also traded spices such as paprika, some of which ended up on Cannibal Island, in its expansion into the Caribbean.[11] Around the same time, Singapore's market place was truly an assault on the senses, as stalls were crammed with sacks of herbs, spices, rice, noodles, beans and other goods.[12] About two decades later, when the thieves Jan and Gan stole the Galileo's diary from Carina Smyth, they hid in a spice shop.[13]

Behind the scenes

On June 1, 2006, spices were first mentioned in Rob Kidd's book Jack Sparrow: The Siren Song,[4] and made their first appearance in Irene Trimble's junior novelization for the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.[10][11]

Spices were meant to appear in Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned, a video game which was scheduled to be released in 2011.[14][15] But since that game was cancelled, it is unknown if its appearance in the game is canon or not.

Appearances

Sources

External links

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, p. 48
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Price of Freedom, Chapter Six: The Wicked Wench
  3. ↑ Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean, p. 12
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jack Sparrow: The Siren Song, pp. 14-17
  5. ↑ Jack Sparrow: The Timekeeper, p. 16
  6. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Fourteen: Hard Bargains
  7. ↑ Legends of the Brethren Court: Rising in the East, p. 7
  8. ↑ Legends of the Brethren Court: The Turning Tide, p. 3
  9. ↑ Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters, p. 58
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization), p. 30
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  12. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, p. 48
  13. ↑ The Secret of Galileo's Diary
  14. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
  15. ↑ Port Royal in Armada of the Damned