Living along the Trade Routes…

The history of the Middle East, much like I wrote about for India, found itself wrapped up in the ancient trade routes. Being such a central location, almost acting like a funnel, the Middle East was filled with the end of trade routes that stopped as they reached the Mediterranean Sea. There were also many trade routes that also started in the Middle East and went the other way headed for the Orient, India and even Egypt.

The Middle East, because of its location, found itself very involved with the trade routes on the water. Ships were constantly coming and going back and forth across the Mediterranean Sea and further. Ships bearing the wealth of the known world came back to the ports that they started at. The grain trade alone during ancient times was what kept the Roman Empire going.

We can actually get a small taste of what it might have been like to live along those great trade routes today. How? My tasting the cuisine of the Middle East. The cultures of the Middle East were constantly shifting like the sand. These cultures brought with them their own food, culinary traditions and cooking methods. These are still reflected in a very real way in the spice heavy food, traditional baking methods and use of floral ingredients in desserts.

Imagine living along a major trade route, going to the market or bazaar one day and finding all kinds of new and delicious ingredients to use from around the then known world. Everything from oranges, to sugar to every kind of spice imaginable flowed through these markets. It may seem unusual to Westerns who are use to getting their food at a supermarket, but much of the world, including the Middle East, still shops in these ancient style markets and bazaars. In some way, all of us and the way we eat have been influenced by these ancient trade routes whether by our food traditions, cooking methods or flavor preferences.