Schivelbusch and Spices

Courtesy of Art Print Images

Jennifer:

Overall, I found Schivelbusch’s Tastes of Paradise to be a well thought-out and pleasurable read, but I did struggle in the attempt to understand his reasoning for leaving out a connection I expected to see.  Though Schivelbusch mentions the relationship between coffee and the various other substances and erotica, he fails to show any correlation between spices and sexual arousal. Yes, the discussion on spices only goes on for a mere eleven pages. I still, however, felt that it was undeservingly overlooked. I originally thought it would have been satisfying to see a more in-depth analysis of spices and less redundancy toward the end of the book.

Perhaps, others may not have found this to be an obvious or even important correlation. Nevertheless, I still did. I couldn’t help but think “aphrodisiac”, when I heard “spices and food” in the same sentence as “paradise” and combined with the thought of “pleasure”. However, after taking a closer look and contemplating further on the chapter, I came to the realization that it may well have been a downfall on my part. Schivelbusch so earnestly tries to show the direct link between spices and the idea of paradise created in the minds of the Europeans during the Middle Ages and the lucid role it played in history.

The expectations I had at the start of my read along with the still lingering ideas I had after a recent viewing of the movie, Like Water for Chocolate, in which there is a strong correlation between food and sexual arousal, led me to be wrongfully disappointed at the end of the first chapter. I can now understand and appreciate the connection he is making between the symbolic meaning the spices had and their quite literal qualities. He even states, “The symbolic meaning and actual physical taste of medieval spices were closely intertwined. Social connections, balance of power, wealth, prestige, and all manner of fantasies were “tasted”” (p. 7).

Schivelbusch makes it a point to show the reader the function of the spices and their altering effects on history. He even goes as far as trying to let the reader imagine for himself how the Europeans must have felt by his vivid descriptions of several recipes. I am aware of my hypocrisy, but yes, he did all of this and did it successfully in just eleven pages.