“spices” were valued for their exclusivity, or because rich people ate them.
For example, allium plants like garlic and onion were viewed with suspicion and disgust, even considered poisons. This isn’t because they don’t taste good, more that anybody with a garden could grow them. Meanwhile, spices like nutmeg, which only grow in far-off places were coveted.
This is also the probable explanation for prohibitions on pork. Pigs are the meat of the poor, because you don’t need much land or resources to raise them. That old wives tale about trichinosis implies that ancient people were too stupid to cook their pork thoroughly while consuming chicken and fish that had the same illness and parasite problems as pigs.
And when spices became cheap enough for the masses, rich people suddenly wanted flavorless food.
ETA: This is an oversimplification. Rich people also wanted to show they didn’t have to eat spoiled food, so they instructed their chefs to get the freshest ingredients and barely cook them to highlight its “natural flavor.”
Poor people used cheap spices to hide spoilage, one example of which we know today as corned beef.
“spices” were valued for their exclusivity, or because rich people ate them.
For example, allium plants like garlic and onion were viewed with suspicion and disgust, even considered poisons. This isn’t because they don’t taste good, more that anybody with a garden could grow them. Meanwhile, spices like nutmeg, which only grow in far-off places were coveted.
This is also the probable explanation for prohibitions on pork. Pigs are the meat of the poor, because you don’t need much land or resources to raise them. That old wives tale about trichinosis implies that ancient people were too stupid to cook their pork thoroughly while consuming chicken and fish that had the same illness and parasite problems as pigs.
And when spices became cheap enough for the masses, rich people suddenly wanted flavorless food.
ETA: This is an oversimplification. Rich people also wanted to show they didn’t have to eat spoiled food, so they instructed their chefs to get the freshest ingredients and barely cook them to highlight its “natural flavor.”
Poor people used cheap spices to hide spoilage, one example of which we know today as corned beef.