There was a time when the seasoning you added to your food signalled your social status. In the 16th century, anyone who served dishes flavoured with mixed spice was very rich. At one point, this combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, coriander, ginger and allspice – similar to Germany’s Lebkuchengewürz – was worth its weight in silver.
In those days, savoury dishes were complex: meat dishes packed with fruit, sugar and as many expensive spices as you could get your hands on.
The trade in exotic spices such as cinnamon began around 4,000 years ago in the Middle East. Arab merchants would invent fantastic stories about how and where it grew in the Far East. Over the centuries that followed, the demand for spices increased. When the Goths plundered Rome in 410, their ransom list, along with gold and silver, included 3,000 pounds of peppercorns.
As the rich and powerful developed an appetite for spices, trade routes were established, often violently, across Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain, crossing the stormy seas in search of pepper – and returned with Jamaican allspice. A few years later, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrived in India, finally gaining direct access to cinnamon.
In the early 1600s, the Dutch massacred, enslaved or deported most of Indonesia’s Bandanese people in order to secure the nutmeg trade.
By the mid-17th century, Europeans had established themselves in Africa, Asia and the Americas. As a result, spices became accessible and cheaper. No longer exclusive, they were relegated to the supposedly feminine task of baking. Mixed spice, in particular, was and still is used in pies and cakes.
Even today, when mixed spice is readily available, it is worth remembering, as you sink your teeth into a hot cross bun, that you are tasting history.
HOT CROSS BUNS
INGREDIENTS
• 225 ml milk
• 50 g butter, cut small
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 500 g strong white flour
• 50 g caster sugar
• 7 g dried yeast
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 pinch of salt
• 200 g raisins
• 100 g plain flour
• 2 tbsp orange marmalade
RECIPE
Heat the milk in a pan. Melt the butter in the milk. Cool and add the eggs. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon, mixed spice and a pinch of salt. Pour the milk into the centre of the mix and form a dough. Knead for ten minutes. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Set aside for an hour, or until it doubles in size. Place on a floured surface, add the raisins and knead for five minutes. Form 12 balls. Put them on a lined baking tray three to five centimetres apart. Cover with a cloth and allow to rest. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 (200 °C). For the crosses, mix the plain flour with six tablespoons of water to make a paste. Use a piping bag to draw a cross on each bun. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden. Remove and allow to cool. Heat the marmalade and brush the surface of each bun with it. Eat with lots of butter.