The survival of the spiciest: A new recipe for evolution of the taste-buds

Prof Sharman believes, “… that recipes are a record of the co-evolutionary race between us and our parasites…. The microbes are competing with us for the same food. Everything we do to food — drying, cooking, smoking, salting or adding spices — is an attempt to keep from being poisoned by our microscopic competitors.”

In the Quarterly Journal article, the authors say that spicy food was the key to survival in prehistoric times. They argue that human beings inherited a taste for spicy food because spice-eaters survived better than non-spice eaters andpassed on the genes which made spices taste good to their descendants. Spices, as is well-known, preserved food from harmful bacteria, and people who ate spiced food therefore lived longer and produced more offspring than people who did not.

Explaining their thesis, Paul Sharman said that spices taste good because, “..traits that are beneficial are transmitted culturally and genetically, and that includes taste receptors in our mouths. People who enjoyed food with anti-bacterial spices probably were healthier, especially in hot climates. They lived longer and had more offspring. They taught their offspring how to cook. The ultimate reason for using spices is to kill food bacteria and fungi.”

According to the study, the best bacteria killers are garlic, onion, allspice and oregano, they apparently kill everything. Cumin, thyme, cinnamon and tarragon can kill 80 percent of bacteria, with capsicum, chillies and other members of this family a close third. Pepper of different types, lemon and lime juice areonly 25 percent effective.

The study is based on data, including 4,570 recipes from 36 countries, the temperature and precipitation levels of the 36 countries and the horticultural range of 43 spice plants and their anti-bacterial properties. The study says that it found that in hot countries, nearly every meat-based recipe calls for at least one spice, and most include many spices, especially the potent spices.

Thailand, the Philippines, India and Malaysia are top of the list, with Sweden, Norway and Finland at the bottom. The study clearly attempts to put right some “traditional” western explanations for why hotter countries consume more spices. One misconception, apparently, was that people in hot countries eat spices because spices make them sweat and this cools them down.

Another was that it disguised the taste of rotten food, an explanation, which according to the authors ignores “the health dangers” of consuming rotten food. The explanation that warm countries grow a wider range of spices andtherefore consume a greater variety, is according to Sharman and Billing incorrect. They say that even onion and garlic, which grow almost everywhere are far more widely used in hotter countries.

Interesting as this theory of “Darwinian gastronomy” is, food historians are unlikely to accept its oversimplified explanations for the evolution of cuisines across the world.