Latest / Two Tools, No Clue / E5 The Tales of Spices

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E5 The Tales of Spices · Two Tools, No Clue

• Jey & Anna: So that would make the serpents run up, fly away. Not not run. They obviously never run. But ⁓ and it would give ⁓ the merchants time. to gather up all the burnt berries now. ⁓ okay. was like, while it's in flames. the burnt berries, they're, they're ready to go. They're now peppercorns and they bring them back. And I feel like if someone told me that story, I'd be like, thank you so much for your services. Yes. I will pay you this much for these peppercorns. So yeah, I thought that was pretty funny. Yeah, wicked smart. ⁓ They obviously use this tactic to hold on to their trading route for a very, a very long time. Yeah, nobody's wanting to deal with any flying serpents. Thank you very much. ⁓ So obviously it was kept for a secret for a very long time, strictly because they didn't really have access to it unless they were trying to travel that route. But I feel like they were they would probably give them a little bit of pushback if they tried to travel their route. ⁓ absolutely. I feel like you had to know people to be a trader. But, you know, that's that's what just thought. It's like sales today. So the Portuguese were the first to kind of finally be like, no, I want these spices. Take this boat. Go find them. You know, and these explorers like they would they would go. This guy named Vasco da Gama, it was the first one. He said, yep, of course, I will travel all the way to the shores of India and Asia, and I won't come back until I have all these fancy spices. So he knew he was going to India and Asia. At least he wasn't just he didn't know how to get there. wow. ⁓ do he know the general direction? ⁓ they knew he was going to have to go down the coast of Africa, turn the bend. But after that, wow. That's as far as they had been traveling. That's scary. ⁓ yeah, because if you go the wrong way, it's the ocean. It's the Atlantic Ocean. And it's probably pretty unforgiving on that side, too. ⁓ Probably end up in the Bermuda triangle real quick. ⁓ So yeah, he ended up ⁓ on the coast of Malabar in India. ⁓ And obviously, like most European travelers, they thought they were showing up to. tribes and People who didn't really know how to settle or uncivilized. Yes, uncivilized folk But that was the complete opposite. It was very civilized Oh shit bustling cities So some brick ass buildings here. Yeah So, yeah, they showed up and obviously they knew they had to figure something out so manipulation wasn't going to work, so they had to kind of take them by force. So they were the first ones to kind of invade that coast. They used how many ⁓ were there in order for them to invade this whole city? So like they would like come in fleets. But I feel like then once they were established, it was like, OK, you go back and get the ⁓ OK, you know, because they they made There are still forts. all throughout these islands and India ⁓ that are very yeah very European very British very Dutch and you can tell who invaded the worst the best however you want to put it because of some of the structures wow it's actually very beautiful to look at like when I was watching that documentary like especially like in the Indonesian ⁓ a lot of Dutch ⁓ like forts and even just like houses. Interesting. It's just It's just like extra like exotic because I don't know. It's just very untouched, but touched. Right. Because there's not much. I don't know. They don't need them. They're gone. They're not in charge of those places now. So I don't know. I just it very interesting because all of that stuff wouldn't be there if it wasn't for these spices. Right. That we're going to. ⁓ yeah. So obviously. We'll get into peppercorn, but we're going to do pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Heck yeah. ⁓ So we're going to go over the brief history, ⁓ who invaded, why, how they overcome, you know, stuff like that. And then ⁓ the harvesting techniques ⁓ them too. Sweet. ⁓ yeah, we are going start in India, like I was already telling you. They still hold the largest part of the spice industry today. India does? Yep. And what's good about it is at least like they're in somewhat control. we America, America ⁓ is the one consumer ⁓ of Indian Wow. ⁓ Hey everyone, welcome to the Two Tools No Clue podcast. I'm Anna. And I'm Jeidan And today we're learning about... Spices! Who has them, who wants them, and how do you make your own? How do you? But first, what's going on in the homestead? Let's see. Well, I did some things in the yard today. Yeah, you did. ⁓ 14 percent 14 percent. Yeah, which I think that's a pretty big number. And that's because like every country in the world. Right. And that's because we can't grow it here, right? not because we're eating more spices than other countries. ⁓ that is correct. ⁓ Pepper corn grows as a vine they me of. because the snow has melted at least in the portion where our garden is. And ⁓ we are very determined this growing season, seasons, we are going to conquer all three seasons this year. So I, you know, laid down two beds worth of cardboard and I went around and I picked up kind of peas, but without shells. They kind of just grow down together. Okay. they grow on vines and the vines grow up like in the trees in the jungle. So they're not related to pepper peppers at all. No. Interesting. I wonder why they're called peppercorns. yeah, I just think I think it's interesting because like you of cayenne pepper. bunch of sticks and old composted plants from last year because we kind of left the tomatoes. So the greenhouse is all cleared out now. So yeah, we are getting ready. mean, obviously it's fake spring in New England right now. We are no dummies. Yeah, right now it's March 15th. Yeah. As we record this, we're almost there. Right. Yeah, that is from a cayenne pepper. But yeah, when they harvest it on the documentary that I watched, ⁓ one of the ways that they were doing it is they had these bamboo ⁓ There's been a few really nice days. Obviously we all know it's not real yet, but we are trying to get ahead this year because we usually fall short at the beginning and then we get a little overwhelmed. And so we're trying to avoid that this year. Yeah. Especially because my back is kind of, you know, I have to do a better job taking care of it. So, yeah. And then we also finally got. ladders. And when I, when I say that, I mean, it was like literally a bamboo shoot with like little nubs, like on the side that they would just climb up. Wow. Gather all these vines. They clip them off. And then they would throw them onto this like woven mat. And to separate the peppercorns. our maple kit. Yay. Amazon came. I've been waiting to share it with you guys. So we're going to, we're going to open it now. And if you want to see this and you're just listening, head on over to YouTube. And Anna will describe what is happening because she's much better at it than myself. So our producer Larry is making we ordered a ⁓ it comes with 10 taps and 10 bags and 10 tubes to attach the taps to the bags and from the vines that they had pulled them with. They were like, dance on them. And obviously, the white lady was like, I want to try. Is there like a specific way to dance on them? They like the way they kind of did it, it was like almost like they would use one foot to kind of like hold it. And then the other would like kind of roll over it so that it wasn't like fully stepping on it. Right. If that makes sense. Jey is pulling out a very large wad of plastic. ⁓ bunch of white caps fell to the floor. I will say that. ⁓ So a lot of people in the reviews on Amazon said that their caps. But it was very and they did it so fast. Right? So it was like, does look like they're dancing. And then ⁓ they would take away all the stems. And they would spread them all out on that same mat, just outside for three days. And what I thought was really cool is, like people would go pick. And a lot of the spices, like the way the did not have holes in it. ⁓ snap. Ours And so what I'm realizing, well, it comes with two sets of caps. ⁓ but they're very poorly drilled. So I mean, at least we have those though, because what people ended up having to do is take these caps that are for like after you're done for like storage purposes. ⁓ They were drilling the holes into that. So that's at least a plus. This is not sponsored. the trees work in a lot of the islands that like, if stuff falls onto the ground, like this for like, like the kids can take it. And then there's like a certain amount of your crop that you like have to like, give to them. And so you would walk down this, like this lady was walking down the street, right? And it was just lined with mats, ⁓ drying stuff Wow. I thought it was really cool. Cause obviously like that's how ⁓ all these make their money. Yeah, I don't think there is a brand anyway, but I think the bag is cool. It's not a bucket that hangs on your tree. It doesn't stress your tree out as much because it's a tube. So it's so the is is ⁓ is the weight is on the ground. OK, ⁓ so you put the on the ground. You put the bag on ground. ⁓ It's plastic. What I was thinking of doing is still having a bucket we have a lot of spare buckets right now. ⁓ Right. They just spend the time doing all this stuff. It was the same same for cloves like the villages that were that's what they did is it was the clove trees the kids would go find the fallen ones and ⁓ the cloves like they the stems too I wonder how the big companies ⁓ get their peppercorn because they're not dancing on it in like a warehouse. ⁓ It's sad. holes in it so they won't it won't fill up so I think we should probably put them inside a bucket still ⁓ just so like the animals don't mess with it but I'm excited because so those are the bags What I'm going to tell you is it's... all coming from these people. You know, part about cinnamon stood out to me because like that gets priced up by like 300 % by the time it gets to us. And those farmers and those people all the spices, like they're not getting that money. Right. getting, McCormick is getting it. Yeah. are fairly small so they're not really gonna ⁓ the tree. ⁓ So one, the shorter side attaches to the tubing. They look like giant earbuds. It reminds me of a ⁓ tea for golf with a little spout. ⁓ yeah. That's what it reminds me of. But yeah, so the big side goes on the tube that then attaches to the bag. So it goes down gravity, it fills up and then this goes into the tree after you drill a little hole in. They're getting like a huge. Yeah. Or a very small fraction. Exactly. And there are ⁓ there are really big spice retailers in India, like do not get me wrong. Like there is a middle man that has money ⁓ that she went to like this warehouse. The lady in the documentary. Yeah. And how they did like trading and stuff. It's like this hand system. and it ⁓ isn't as stressful on the tree because most taps like it comes with like that little hook that you then hang it on. Right. So it the tree will heal quicker because there's not as much stress going on. I thought that was kind of cool. So we'll see if they work. Yeah, this will be a Patreon video if anyone wants to head on over to our Patreon. Yeah, spoiler alert. under a blanket so that people, you swindle each other or something like that. You have to know the system. Really crazy stuff. like touching each other instead of speaking Yeah, was like a tapping thing. Yeah. And that way traders didn't need to speak the same language. It was a trader language and it started on the trail. That's cool. Yeah. So when the Europeans found the direct route, My next full episode ⁓ is gonna be maple syrup. ⁓ So we're gonna posting our Patreon episode about us tapping our own very own maple syrup for the very first time. Yeah, who knows what's gonna happen? Making it on Patreon. So yeah, check it out there. ⁓ And then we purchased our Portuguese got there ⁓ that was kind of the start of the colonization of India. ⁓ For 500 years. ⁓ They were colonized. By the end of it, it was British rule. Yep. ⁓ they got their freedom as a country in 1947. So that's not that far home garden 30 heirloom seed packet this year. Usually we pick out our own seeds, but we figured why not try it out. We went to Walmart for exactly five different seeds that we didn't have out of every seed we needed. And we came home with this packet of 30 seeds, 30 different types of veggies to grow. I'm excited because they seem from the lives that we live right now. Like my grandparents were alive at that time. Yeah. My grandma was born the year after. Yeah. very close to us. Now we're gonna go to... come from a legit place. I think it's fun that it says survival garden seeds because topical the times be surviverly. ⁓ That was an evil laugh, but I'm not. I'm not on team evil. But yeah, so I think it's just going to motivate us a little bit more this year because Indonesia So in Indonesia, actually where nutmeg and originates. ⁓ until baddies there, that's the only place where you could find was on these ⁓ throughout these Indonesian islands. And there's quite a few islands. I didn't actually realize that I thought Indonesia was the island. That is not the case. Things are expensive and just getting more expensive. I love vegetables and fruit. And you know, when the cantaloupe was coming out of the garden last summer, that was extra satisfying. Yeah, we've never grown cantaloupe before and it was easier than we thought. ⁓ Definitely enjoyed the soil and the location. So I'm excited to make it a bigger mound this year. Yeah, we learned some weird things about melons since we And so that's also why it's kind of like bad luck that they even found them. Bad luck for the islanders, not for the Portuguese and the Dutch and the British, but... And Spain. Spain, I didn't forget about you. There's no map. They're just stumbling upon these tiny little islands like, oh, there's one. just like that, they also, so they would find islands, right? And they all knew they had things. grew our first one, so we're excited. We're going to try the mound method, which is you literally just pile up, you know, like a dirt pile and you plant your plants kind of around it, like midway and they grow up and they grow down and they love it. Heck, yeah. Yeah. So they don't they hopefully they won't end up in the grass as much, but I'm sure they still enjoy the grass. that the other wanted. then they started just fighting over the islands. And that's kind of by the time Indonesia was involved, like that's what was happening. was just total warfare. Like boats, like blowing stuff up. They got to the islands, they would blow the islands up. you know, they'd capture people, like just doing crazy stuff. ⁓ So there was actually Spice Island war. Whoa. ⁓ Yeah, they didn't do bad in the grass. I had to rotate them a lot to prevent mold. And they did get a little bit of mold, but it wasn't terrible. So, yeah, I guess that's what's going on around the homestead. and it was a few different islands, but it lasted for like 200 years. What? From the 15th until the 17th century, Spain, Portugal, England and Holland all fought for control on these Indonesian islands, Indonesian islands. Yep. Just like the Asian spice trade in general. But like, yes, particularly the Indonesian islands got wrecked. ⁓ my god, these poor people live there. And that's where it yeah and and to this day like a lot of these islanders like they have reclaimed their space but what's really sad about it is during this they weren't just taking their resources and enslaving them in their own lands like they were taking their resources moving these people from one island to another island to do the same Alrighty, should we get into the spices? Yes, let's get spicy. Spicy! to make this episode. I of course ended up on some weird and funny websites, but I also watched a three hour documentary. Yeah. When he said he was watching a three hour documentary, I was like, excuse me. All about spices. And you watched the whole thing. I watched the whole thing and I was not disappointed for some reason. similar, you know slave stuff with props and then they would move the other people just for control moves, you know, just just like we did. Just like America did no different like that's how ⁓ was already a thing. That's disgusting. Yeah. So yeah, the worst ⁓ of them being the Dutch East India Company. ⁓ literally like if you think about it they were the pirates I was so fascinated. It didn't lose your attention for the whole three hours. And what's the name of this documentary? Where do you watch it? Shout it out for the ⁓ I watched it by the segments on YouTube. tell any pirate story you want, but in reality, these people were the pirates. They were pillaging, they were doing what they wanted, they were taking things that weren't theirs. I obviously didn't know much about Indonesia, but I learned whole lot. ⁓ It is, ⁓ if you guys don't know it is, it's like near Australia. a cluster of islands ⁓ sit in between Thailand and Australia. ⁓ Like ⁓ the coasts of the shoreline ⁓ in Pacific Ocean. And there's lot of them. A lot of tiny islands. ⁓ And they have ⁓ different types spices, but mainly clove nutmeg nutmeg. are the only places that those two crops grow ⁓ begin with, and then they started to move them around. And what what ended up happening on some of these islands is like one of the Dutch's technique was they were like, okay, screw this, we already have islands that produce these things. Now we're just going to go to the other islands and destroy it. and was called the Spice Trail and British woman took you ⁓ on an adventure and what I thought was about it is she actually traveled to the places, right? So it's just some like straight up British documentary shit. I love it. Yeah. And it was and where they were going was so fascinating. ⁓ What? Yeah, we'll get into that. For why? Because even now to get to some of these places, you have to do some crazy adventures. ⁓ So yeah, it was very cool. And I'm sure I have watched segments of that throughout my educational bits. highly desirable stuff. That's what they were there for. You know, like they were there to control the trades. They it just became a very cruel game is what it kind of seems like. Like they it just got to them that it was all or nothing is what it kind of seemed like. one of islands ⁓ was called Banda Islands. OK. because it's just like, just seems like one of those things that you would learn about somewhere. And obviously I didn't take it in. No, obviously I didn't take it in, but it kind of just seemed like that's why it was like broken up like that. But I don't know. It was really cool. And so, yeah, I watched that. And then I also read this article called spiceadvice.com and it's all about spices. It was pretty cool. And what really stuck out to me was how, so I learned about this, this particular island in a few different ways, but the most I learned was from the documentary I watched and the route that and how she had to even just get to these islands today was incredible. You know, it, Like how to like what to do with your spices where your spices came from like just I don't know it was pretty funny and then I'm just gonna shout them all out right now. I guess I don't want to leave anybody out and then I ⁓ Was on BBC.com and that that was called the flavors that the world and that was actually pretty cool because it was like Put you kind of already where these were these explorers, guess is what we'll call them were because you needed to know someone. Someone needed to bring you there. You cannot. There are there is not an airport on this island. Like you take a boat. Yeah. And she was just on this little boat and they they got her there. And it's just like one of those things like, wow, this is out here. interactive website almost. ⁓ wow. So you could like click into stuff like I don't know I think I got lucky with the topic and you know how I've been especially this past year when I we figured out how to make cayenne pepper obviously now I know but I was very my mind was blown right so I just I don't know I thought it was cool so yeah I guess we'll just dive into it And it makes me think of Alaskan Bush people, how they would have to have those yes, planes that could land on the water on water supplies, ⁓ like that. Exactly. don't know, just thought it was really cool. Like just even how she got there, I was like, all right, you have my attention. Like what is going on at the Banda Islands and a lot, honestly, and it's like really sad. When you go to the Banda Islands, you are ⁓ So my first very random fact first fun fact comes from an assyrian myth and it is the earliest recorded use of a spice is the sesame. The sesame I love that seeds yep sesame seeds this man claims that the gods drank sesame wine the night before they created the earth. instantly overwhelmed with very large trees, but a very large that white people did something horrible here. The islanders themselves to this day still don't really trust visitors. I don't blame them. Duh. Get out of here. Why are you visiting? Leave us alone. That's how I would feel. Yeah. Sesame wine like sesame oil? I was going to say I love the smell of sesame oil. There's just something about it. Like the earthiness. I don't know. But you think the co-op has some wine? Maybe. Maybe we should look. Or do you think it's like an ancient, ancient thing? It's just for the gods, not for us. Mortals. don't know what it is or how it is, but I thought that was pretty cool. Wicked frickin random fact that is random. But I just wanted that. It's because it's the first one. So I thought it was. There's a lot of forts on the island. A lot of the people on the islands speak Dutch, speak Portuguese, speak Spanish. So depending on the island is the language that they speak they still have their own languages, but the other languages they speak are those languages. And it's because they were colonized for so long. Wow. I thought it was cool. That is cool. So that was on that was on my search during the history of spices on spiceadvice.com. One of the many things that I said also on there. A lot of the spices that we all know we all use once upon a time. A lot of people didn't have access to them. Unless they were ending up in the Mediterranean from Asia. It's like it's like how down in the Caribbean they speak French and you're like, why do you speak French? didn't know that. Yeah, they speak French. Interesting. Yeah. A of the Caribbean islanders, they speak Creole French. Wow. Yeah. That's because they were colonized by the French for the longest. That makes sense. But yeah, just small stuff like that. So the Banda Islands, they were. because they were all coming from Asia just because of how they're grown and the climate they're growing. Like just like every other plant. Like ⁓ and I think it's funny just like every they didn't grow their own spices in the Mediterranean. Well, some of some of them could be grown there, but just the ones that they wanted were they had to like get them from Asia. Yeah, they didn't. They had never heard of that before. The plants didn't grow there. Gotcha. You know, like they just discovered by the Dutch. When they did that, they gathered all the chiefs and they murdered them. Typical. Then they massacred the majority of the bandanese population and enslaved the rest. My God. Over time, they repopulated the island with slaves from other islands to work the nutmeg farms. What? Like it doesn't make any sense. Like just let them work the nutmeg farms. You know what mean? But it was a control factor. It was because they knew one, they were probably outnumbered. hadn't been stolen yet, but we'll get into it. Don't worry. ⁓ So ⁓ basically these Arab traders, like they had the upper hand. Obviously the white man don't like that, right? But they would tell them terrifying stories, just crazy stuff to keep them from not really even wanting to do it because it's not like that you just hop on their little jet. Yeah, they don't want people who know the area. Yeah. It could help them escape. Yeah, so they had people come from other islands that they did the same thing to work the nutmeg farms. And today the indigenous people of this island, they actually still. So, Indonesian islands in general all Send their boy to go check it out like rich people can today. You know what I mean? Like it's literally like. They go on a boat and they either find it or they get lost. Yeah, and I. These rich people who have the spices are telling these other people lies so that they don't try to come get the spices. They're not they're not really rich rich, but they're the middlemen. hold a ceremony. It's a tradition called ⁓ Cakalele. in these islands, they do it a little bit different to the chiefs. ⁓ Okay. And so I thought that was pretty There's like a dance ⁓ that they do. And I think that's pretty because like they obviously outlasted the Dutch. They're the Arab merchants that would make the trail make like the trek to the Mediterranean from like India. Yeah. Which is like a very far way to walk and to donkey it. You know what I mean? Like because that's what they were kind of doing. ⁓ But like that was the only way. And Europeans were not going to do that. Right. They also didn't really have access or like I said, the upper hand probably wasn't safe for them. But. But it came with like a lot of resilience and them losing a lot of their people. Yeah. ⁓ yeah, so I just thought it was pretty cool. There's a lot of, ⁓ tales that I'm going to tell you guys that I think are funny. So, ⁓ the first one was the ferocious cinnamon bird or the cinnamalagous. The cinnamalagous. Regardless, the nutmeg tree did originate here. I didn't know this about nutmegs, but there's like layers to them. What is a nutmeg It's tree. OK, it is a very big tree. Like just your regular ass maple tree. Like huge tree. OK. ⁓ And the nutmeg, it reminds me of This large bird made its nest from delicate cinnamon sticks. Is this real? No, I just told you. They're like shriveled up. reminds me of like a a peach pit or like a Yes. This is what they would tell them. Okay. Are you ready? ⁓ my God. I didn't even get to the scary part yet. Anyway. Okay. This large bird made its nest from the delicate cinnamon sticks. The trader said one way to get the cinnamon was to bait the cinemalogus with large chunks of meat. gonna say nutmeg, but like a chestnut. I was just about to say, was like, what do we have for Thanksgiving for the first time? like the first layer isn't the nutmeg. The first layer is used like medicinally, I'm pretty sure. The shell? Yeah, like grind it up and do stuff with it. And does it have a shell? Yeah, but it's like weird looking. And then the next layer is called mace. The birds would fly down from their nest, snatch up the meat and fly back. The precarious cinnamon nest would collapse when the bird returned weighted with its catch. Then quick witted traders could gather up the fallen cinnamon and take it to market. And they use that for like perfumes and stuff. OK. So it's like a twofer, like a threefer. What's the consistency of mace? It's like you peel it off. It's like filmy film, red film. Red. I picturing white. No, it's like red film. And then and then it's the nutmeg. Oh, wow. What's the nutmeg look like? So if this bird has a single meal and then heads home, it's whole nest is going to fall apart. Yeah, they, know, ⁓ it's crazy if you think about it. you know, cinemalogus these homeboys, they believed it. They were like, holy shit, thanks for the cinnamon. Like, job. Yeah. Like, you imagine just the other stuff that they probably told them? You know, ⁓ it's just not real. That's not how cinnamon is made. We'll find out how. Like a large sunflower seed, but not that color. OK. can't remember what color elongated? Yeah. Weird. little bigger. Like bigger than a sunflower, obviously. Oh, wow. Like an almond? Yeah. But bigger still. Bigger than an And smooth. Oh, wow. The shell is gone. It's actually very interesting because I had no idea because you I am a fool who has no clue. I think I know, but maybe I don't. Okay, before I get into it, you know, later on, we'll I'll ask you then. also for many the Greeks and Romans were fooled by that. And I just thought it was funny because like, you know, the Romans literally So we continue on to the description of another Indonesian island. So this story I think is like extra messed up because this involves two islands. And when took over a lot of places. Like they were the first people to kind of dominate things. there were some corners of the world that stopped them. And I feel like probably Arab merchants were one of them. So yeah, that was all on the made earth that I was telling you about from BBC the the Portuguese, it was the Portuguese this time again. When they arrived, these two islands were fighting. The two sultans were at war. OK, so they use that there to their advantage. Jeez Louise they're like, we got guns, which one of you wants them basically? Like, hold out one. was pretty cool. And then on my spice trail journey, another one that was told was the Arab merchants again. They would tell the tale of the peppercorn gardens. And in these gardens, they were guarded by flying serpents. I'm already out. I don't like pepper. I don't like snakes. I'm good. All right. So already. two islands are called the Trenet Islands and the Tudori Islands. They obviously both claimed to be the best. Portuguese ended up picking the Trenet Sultan, gave him weapons, and obviously that helped him win his war. you know, now If you say flying serpent to me, nevermind. You keep on with your trading of peppercorn good for you. It's not worth it. The only way to get the peppercorns was to engulf the gardens in flames. What? So the serpents would flee. Wouldn't that fuck up the peppers? That's how they were made. Portuguese and the Trenet chief like their buddy buddy, right? So he's like, let me show you my island they're getting all chummy and and behold what's on the island clove? They've been looking for it How'd they it existed cuz it it had been from the Arab trade Because if you think about it, it's really far from them But to the Indian coast, you know somebody and they did because they weren't, showing up and killing each other. They're like, can I have some of your cloves please? ⁓ Civilized Yes, ⁓ exactly. ⁓ now they they have it there ⁓ and now Trenet ⁓ are screwed obviously like the port. So Portuguese and Dutch, like they kind of had different tactics when they would show up to islands like the Dutch like they were just evil. were just they would show up and they would be like Give me all your shit. Okay, well, I'm going to take it anyway. You know what I mean? Like they didn't care. And then they would go for it. They would just take people, move on. Like I said, Portuguese, they would they would pretend to be buddy buddy. Like we want this to be a mutual exchange. Like they would pretend to be like, we're just merchant. Right. We're just here. Like we have things to trade with you. And then when that didn't work, they would switch gears. And so that's what ends up happening. They tried to seize control, but it did not work. Who did? The Portuguese. So they kidnapped the Sultan and they kill him. ⁓ It backfires so quickly and they did not expect it because they had already done it in other places and it had worked. The Terenatians were like, what the hell did you just do? But the other people were just like, that's it. That's I don't know. I mean, I think they just. I don't know, maybe they weren't as prideful people, but it kind of sounds like they were already ramped up, you know what I mean? It's just like you killed our Sultan, you know, feel like sultans. ⁓ sounds intense. Yeah. You if you're living in a place that has a Sultan like that sounds intense. And honestly, I watched, this is a side note, this isn't in here. When I watched the documentary, she went to an Indonesian ⁓ island that to this day had a Sultan. What is a Sultan? I'm, you know, a Sultan. I would compare to like a emperor. Okay. Like they're in charge. but it was very like royal family-esque. Like it was a whole thing. Like you don't show up to the island without the Sultan knowing what you are doing. Wow. And so she shows up and the documentary lady? They ended up having a whole service for her and they like throned her. She became a princess and a consultant for like this Indonesian Island somewhere. And it was just, just for showing up a lot. Yeah. And like, a lot of pride in their country and just, I don't know, it was very interesting. But yeah, that was just a side note. But I just think, yeah, so like the Sultan, I think if you mess with that one even today, I think a similar thing would happen. It's very like, that's our Sultan. What have you done? So yes, they were pissed. ⁓ They obviously knew that they didn't have guns and you know what they had, but they did know that they only had limited supplies in their little fort. Because they all like they made a fort, right? And then they all ran back to it. When they killed them because they were like, the Portuguese. Yes, they were like, yikes. They go back to their fort and so they just surrounded the place. They surrounded the place for five years. ⁓ I thought you going say days, five years surrounding the Terenatians OK, they're like. That's fine. You can stay, but you certainly can't leave your fort without explaining yourself. Do you know how many Portuguese were cooped up in there altogether? I don't remember how many, but I feel like it was like 50 or so. That's a good amount of people. Five years they ran out of food. They ran out of just hope. And so ⁓ Terenatians were free. Wow. I don't, I feel like they let them leave. don't, I wouldn't let them leave. I wouldn't either, but they let them leave. And so that, that was that. Then the Dutch show up. Jesus get out of here. So the Dutch already had, like I said, they already had farming control in other islands. Right. So they are just here to destroy. They don't know that. So they, you know, they're playing their cards a little differently. They're like, this is what the people want instead. So they they were like tricking them into like, we'll give you this for that. But they were taking like the limbs of the trees ⁓ and the seeds. And so ⁓ all the trees were gone. ⁓ and dying. ⁓ my God. ⁓ For one tree. Is this real or is this like a legend? is real. Wow. Okay. For one tree that was in the Sultan's palace. His garden. So obviously the Dutch like did their destruction. But today. Trenet be covered in clove trees from this one tree. And they all are it is from this one tree because it's an island. Like they're not lying. Like it is from that tree. And I just I think it's incredible because yes, the Dutch, the Portuguese, probably other countries up. So if the Dutch destruction were successful, we wouldn't have nutmeg today or. trees no they would have been successful still because they had another island that they had a farming they just so they were going to the other islands just destroying stuff like they're just being extra rude no reason for ⁓ it the story of That's an inspiring story. Yeah. For how terrible it is. Yeah. And clove is a similar process to peppercorn. it is the bud on the tree and they take it before it flowers. OK. And they put it on a mat for three days. Cloves are like those. They dry it out. ⁓ You like pushing oranges for Christmas. It remind it or for toothaches like that's clove. Yes, yes, yes. But when it comes off, it really does look like a flower bud. The round part on the spiky part, is that the flower like dried out or something? The dried bud. it's like a bud. Right. And so they dry it out and then they also use the stems get used for clove cigarettes. So it's like a double. commodity which I thought was pretty cool. That is why they dry them out for three days. ⁓ And that's how they dance is made. No, they don't. Yeah, they just they pluck them. That's really cool. I thought it was cool because in the documentary, it was just like all these kids, various ages, just climbing up these huge trees. Wow. Just plucking at all these things. ⁓ Yeah. ⁓ want see like a picture of it on the tree, like what they're what they're looking for. I can try and find a picture if you want. Yeah, we should put it on our Instagram. I totally will. ⁓ So now we're going to talk a little bit about. Cinnamon. So one of my faves. Really blew my mind. Okay, can I tell you what I I know about Cinnamon? Yeah. Yeah. So I saw a TikTok video. Okay. And this guy, he like cut into the bark of this tree and like took it off. Kind of like you can take off birch bark. Like he just like unwrapped it from the tree and then he like cut it up and those dried and when He dried them. They like curled to that like quintessential cinnamon heart shape that you see on cinnamon sticks. That's exactly what happens if you want cinnamon ground You just grind up the cinnamon sticks, which are just curled bark. So that's exactly how it happens. Wow. OK, sorry to take your thunder. No, no. It's really OK. It was it's really interesting. cinnamon ⁓ originates in Lanka. And like you said, they're like very thin. they look like saplings. Are they small trees or do you have to get them when they're small? Do they stay small or it's just I don't actually know the answer to that. OK, because the guy that they were, it was like the branch he took it off of was like the size of my arm. Yeah, they're they're they're they're pretty thin branches that they're working with, And anyway, I wonder if it regenerates like like birch bark, how underneath is maybe soft and then it becomes hard. That actually probably could be a ⁓ thing. not sure, though, but so it's a small tree. It gets cut down and then, like you said, the bark is peeled off and then they. so it doesn't regenerate because they're like cutting the whole thing. Yeah. They do like the ones that they had, like they were like pretty long, like the length of the people that were. Wow. the way they would do it is. Because it's like mass production, right? ⁓ they're pretty tall, like the ones that the guy was selling were probably like. basketball diameter thick. Whoa. And then I would say probably like two and a half feet long. That's big. Yeah. Big bundles. way they would weigh it was on this hanging scale on the bundle is the size of a basketball. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They would bundle it up. They would layer it back in. Okay. know that way. So they would do it in big ones, but yeah, it'd be like long quills. It's really weird. So ⁓ Sri Lanka, there is a group ⁓ people an ancient cast and they're called the Salagima. OK, they have always been the primary keepers of cinnamon. Whoa. Production of cinnamon. ⁓ primary keepers. the Portuguese got there. They were in charge of it, right? ⁓ had rituals towards it, but it's also just the process and how they do it. And it was passed down. When ⁓ the Portuguese got there, ended up monopolizing their skills, ⁓ obviously. one of the only that this group of people even survived was just because ⁓ They knew how to work the cinnamon. ⁓ wow. They were used because when they showed up, they couldn't figure out where the cinnamon was coming from. they would snap the leaf and they would smell it. And they'd be like, guys, like they really just they didn't understand. Right. Like that makes sense. Like I would be the same way. Yeah. Where are you growing it? I know about cloves. I didn't know about nutmeg. obviously it doesn't look like that right by the time it's dried out so that's they of got to stick around at least Every year in Kandy Sri Lanka, there is a festival to celebrate resilience that Sri Lanka had and they're very They're they're Buddhist. ⁓ OK. And so like there like there's a lot of like glam to it, like the gold and. Right. Stuff like that. Yeah, that's cool. And so that's a yearly thing. Yes. And so that this ceremony already was happening before the Portuguese got here. But then they obviously, you know, are there to mess stuff up. So it ended up amplifying it right, because of what they did. So every year in Kandy, esala Perahera, also known as the Festival of the Tooth. What? Yeah. Includes several days of traditional performances like fire and whip dances. And like I said, it existed already before that. What's up with the teeth? The reason there is the festival of the tooth is ⁓ when Buddha died, he was cremated. OK. And it is believed that four teeth a singular tooth. ⁓ One of them ended up at the Kingdom of Kandy. And because of that, they had a whole temple dedicated to just holding this tooth. ⁓ it still there and every year they would parade it around. I think so. Yeah, they still have the tooth Of course. Yeah. You kidding me? It's Budda's tooth. Of course they have it. Somebody loses Buddha's tooth? Portuguese over there, they thought they were going to be extra evil and they thought they stole the tooth. Who stole the tooth? The Portuguese thought they stole it, really get out of here. They're too smart for that. And they. that was their one of their prized possessions. So they actually had like a replica up in there when the Portuguese arrived. They were like, absolutely not. We need like hide all of our things. They didn't actually end up getting it. So now when the festival happens, it's an extra like. I know what it seems like, I don't know. But yes, I thought that was pretty cool. That is really cool. they thought they were gonna be smart and stealing it and when they tried to steal it they ambushed them and that's how they got the Portuguese to leave. Wow. Wait, so the Portuguese tried to steal the tooth? Yes. And then they ambushed the Portuguese? Yeah. Oh, yeah. It was like a setup. So yeah, I just thought I thought that was pretty funny because Yes, they wanted the spices right and all these islands they the spices ⁓ in way they did get them. They got access to them to this day. These places are probably still taken advantage of because they're not getting all the profits. ⁓ Worldly ⁓ I'll But at the end of the day, like these islands, have their spaces back now. So I think that's good. That's pretty cool. The three hour documentary obviously kind of made really large points about how it is important that we know where all this stuff comes from. Absolutely. Because ⁓ you don't about it. No. But at one point, like our our ancestors didn't have access to these things. And the way they went about it is ⁓ definitely correct and lasting. I really didn't pin it on the Portuguese to be such spice loving their people, their kings were very You know, just like the other kings, it was very much like who's going to get there first. Right. Yeah. But, despite all of that, like Sri Lanka still ⁓ is one the bigger suppliers of cinnamon. They ⁓ used to be. one, but the tsunamis. kind of took out a lot of their, cause it's it's in a jungle, you just walk through and it's like, ⁓ there's cinnamon. You know what I mean? Wow. Very interesting. but yeah, they still hold the standard for cinnamon though. Like the best cinnamon will come. I believe it. I learned a lot more. than I'm speaking on, but it was very eye opening because obviously, you know, like Anna knows I got very into how the hell do you make spices? Like I really just didn't know. And so ⁓ why one, I was so easily intrigued by the documentary and then all the other articles I read. But it's something that I definitely want to venture into. But there's also some things that we just Physically can't really grow here. Right. And that's OK, it's important still to kind of give other people like, hey, that's your thing. I've got this thing over here. Let's trade. I think that's important. We ⁓ as country. Imported four hundred and fourteen million dollars worth of spices. Wow. Last year alone. Last year. In one year. one year. And so, you know, that number to me means that we heavily rely on these countries still to this day. And that also means that we are taking advantage of these countries still to this day. Yeah. Because they're not seeing. Four hundred and fourteen million dollars. No, no way. No way. Do know how many spices we produce here? Like what is our biggest spice? I didn't actually come across like this is what we make in America. I thought it was really interesting how ⁓ we kind of landed in America. Like people always ⁓ have weird story about Christopher Columbus that is all just ⁓ it's It's made up. I don't know why they taught it to us in school. Like I think about it at least once a year. It just doesn't make sense to me because it's an actual story that someone just made up. He was looking for spices. They were supposed to be going to these these people from Portugal when they arrived in the islands, the Caribbean islands at first. Yeah, they were trying to get to the Spice Islands. they went the wrong way. They thought they could go the other way. They didn't realize America was there. So when they landed on the shore it was it was not Asia. It was Mexico. That's why they found the Indians in quotes. So in Mexico, ⁓ is just a little bit facts. This isn't in my notes but I did learn about it. I thought it was cool. Mexico is where vanilla beans came from. gonna ask like what are the Native Americans using? then cocoa. And so when they showed up they got addicted to this drink that they drank. ⁓ yeah. Because it was just you know so flavorful and so that kind of started a thing. So for the longest time, these explorers for kings were bringing back seeds, beans, like trying to grow these plants. like every time they went, they were always bringing them back and trying to grow them places. ⁓ One the ⁓ one that they had a really hard time planting was the vanilla bean. They could not figure out for the life of them. how it got pollinated. ⁓ interesting. Because they hadn't figured out, pollination on on your own yet. No one had figured that part out yet. Right. ⁓ And so they kept. what? There wasn't like a native bug in their area. That's what it was. It was a bee. OK, that was in this jungle and it was the only bee that did it. ⁓ And so figured that part out and they're like, OK, so like we can't really do this. ⁓ And then they tried to plant it in Madagascar because they had colonies there already. I really wouldn't have put it past these people to be like, all right, well, now we have to go get those bees. Yeah. ⁓ them up. I I don't. I feel like they probably tried. But so on this colony in Madagascar, they could grow the plants. It was like a good, Like the tropical area was similar so they could grow the plants, but they still weren't pollinating. Literally this slave who was I think he was like 14 or something. He figured out. How to pollinate them by himself. Wow. And I thought that was pretty cool. And in a perfect world, he would have been freed. He would have became the world's first millionaire. Yeah. can't remember his name. I'm horrible. I'll put it in the notes. But yeah, so that was just my random fact, just from what I remembered. Wow. Put in here. But yeah, there was a lot of interesting tales and facts about Mexico, but I didn't want to keep going on it. Well, if this is 101, maybe there should be a Spices 201. I am curious, What are the Native Americans doing? Yeah, that is true. Because both the Americas, the native people of both of the Americas, because obviously Portuguese had what was upstairs. They weren't very interested in heading up. It seems they were interested in heading. yeah. I feel like I don't even know if they knew it was there. ⁓ that's true. Yeah, ⁓ it connected, right? Yeah, but like if they drove through like the islands and then like beep beep. If they like on a boat, right? It's not like they're on a plane. They can't look down. Right. So like they're on the boat. They hit the islands. They keep going straight. They end up like basically going through the Gulf and they land in Mexico. So they just went straight on either side of them is South America, like you're saying, and then North America. They kind of just go through. So I feel like they probably just had no idea. What was surrounding them yet? Interesting. Yeah. All for spices. All to be able to say, ⁓ have this. Like I have control of this. ⁓ wonder what they were doing for spices in like Greenland. Yeah. So I mean, like I said, like, ⁓ know, other than. ⁓ If you were rich, you had some access to spices in European countries, but for the most part, like it was fairly bland until they started doing all this stuff. And I thought that was pretty cool. Yeah. Like I said, at the beginning of the episode, I journeyed into making my own spices. are some that we can make. On our own that are fairly simple. Some, you know, you have to have the product and you don't have to grow them like we did. But last year we were very successful at growing cayenne peppers. It was our first time trying to do it too. We don't really like, I'm not a jalapeno guy. we don't really like slice spicy up and like use them in things, but we do use a lot of cayenne pepper. ⁓ And so we made our own and it was ⁓ You fairly straightforward the color difference was insane incredible so ⁓ Obviously step we grew the cayenne peppers They maintain themselves fairly well once they start growing they grow ⁓ we would let like curl around it was very cool to even just watch them grow and then We cut them up. put them in our dehydrator Once we did that, ⁓ actually has a Mortar and Pestle. so we used that to grind it up. that was probably the most demanding part. Yeah. Cause you're like, you're like breathing it in. Really grind it in. And like Anna said, do not breathe it in. ⁓ my gosh. I did it. I made that mistake one time. Inhale. And I was coughing for a very long time. was a lot. It reminds me of the rookie mistake when you're cleaning out the basinks and there's jalapeno juice in there. That was horrible. That's happened to me once at my ⁓ last job kick it up into the air. But yeah, so there's a lot of things and then like garlic powder as well. there's a lot of different methods, but Homestead life you really want to try and use everything you have. ⁓ think I've I think I've actually spoke about this before because I'm actually obsessed with the fact that you can do it but when you get fresh garlic cloves obviously you have there's a lot of layering in the peels those peels you can actually dry out in your oven and then you can grind those up as well and you can make garlic powder to make a more potent form of it. Obviously you can use the whole thing and that's where we would have to use the dehydrator but you know there are a lot of things that we use a lot like garlic powder people use cayenne pepper people use. I mean you can make those things by yourself after you get your garden on. Same thing goes for onion powder. Yes, yep that's true. So yeah, That's my rant about spices, I suppose. Yeah. Good job. Thanks. I learned a lot. Yeah. Spices were definitely a lot more exciting than I thought. Yeah. I it was going to be very cut and dry. Like this is how it is grown. That's it. But obviously it came with some spice. ⁓ think you did a really good job because when you said you were doing spices, I was like, ⁓ God, this is going to be such a sad, dark episode. I don't know what I was thinking of, like maybe the... I don't know if I was thinking of this silk... What is that? The silk trail? Because that's dark. And so I was thinking it's going to be similar to that. The migration trail. I you did a really good job of like touching on it, but not like bumming us all out. Thanks. I tried because... It's important to know. It's important to recognize that. it is a dark history. ⁓ I do encourage you guys all to look into it because it's very cool. Even if you just look into the islands. Beautiful. Can you visit or they're still kind of like, please don't. You said that one island was like, it's more like what I noticed when I was kind of researching ⁓ some of the information I was getting that I didn't really use, but I read it. One of them came from actually like a sea log. of this family who was on epic boat adventure. ⁓ And so it kind of seems like that's how you travel to those places. It's like excursions. ⁓ Okay. go maybe but but yes, people still go there. ⁓ But definitely not like Hawaii. where it's touristy. No, it's not. Like you're coming here and you're living like yeah, this is how it be basically. Yeah, in another world, definitely I, if I was a millionaire, that's definitely what I would be spending my money on is seeing places like that. Are we ready for our Farmers Almanac? ⁓ yeah. So today is Thursday, April ⁓ 23rd, supposedly. Hopefully. Today is the feast of St. George. Who he? ⁓ Also today, George. Yeah, right. What you cooking? Yeah. Canada issued its first postal stamp. The three pence beaver in 1851. ⁓ that's really cute. And today is the best day to bake, buy a home, mow to promote growth, plant above ground crops, graft or pollinate and purchase animals. Big day. Wow. Get out there. Bake. Anna, you trying to tell me something? Purchase animals. Bake me cookies. as always, you will find ⁓ show notes, rather, ⁓ where you can go check out all the stuff that I was telling you about. ⁓ you have three hours to kill, definitely watch that documentary. I don't think you'll be disappointed. And we talked about doing a Patreon for the maple syrup because we're so excited because the stuff just came in today. But we should do a Patreon episode for to go along with this episode about where we do our own spices. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, because I feel like I'm going to try and do some different ones this year. I just need to figure out how they are made. Yes. And Anna actually now has a very fancy grinder. that's like a multifunction. And so I think we'll be able to use that for some of them as well. And that way we won't have hand cramps. You're talking about the mill. Yeah. heck yeah. So I think that would be pretty cool. Yeah. Cool beans. Well, if you want to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, you can do so @twotoolsnocluepodcast, TikTok You can find @twotoolsnoclue. You can subscribe to our Patreon and check out the spice video and maple syrup video. Heck yeah. And our jam and jelly video and behind the scenes and, and prelaunch videos. We got it all over there. And bloopers of me messing up. So good. Because there's some pretty good ones. If you would like to email us, I didn't say it, that's patreon.com/twotoolsnoclue. ⁓ Sorry, Anna. ⁓ And if want to us, you can email us your stories, ⁓ any ideas that you might have, ⁓ any comments that you have, really anything. Anything. If you just want to say hi, ⁓ if you have any questions for us. could always answer them in our next podcast. Yeah, we could do it. ⁓ And you can answer. Yeah, that would be fun. ⁓ can email us any of that ⁓ twotoolsnocluepodcast@gmail.com. Yeah. Yeah. As always, thank you for tuning in and listening to us. ⁓ And we you stay safe out We'll see you next week. ⁓ Yeah. Bye bye!