Gourmet Detective (36 page)

The reason for pepper's value was simple. The diet of those days was coarse, monotonous and unpalatable by modern standards. Food spoiled quickly. Pepper—and later other spices—served two purposes. Not only did they add flavor but their antioxidant qualities retarded spoilage, particularly of meat.

Other spices included ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and many others which are lost to us today. These others were used for drug and medicinal purposes and extraordinary claims were made for them. The Code of Hammurabi stipulated that a surgeon was to have his hands cut off if a patient died under his care so it is understandable that the use of drugs was extensive.

One papyrus found in China listed eight hundred herbs and spices with medicinal value and when the Magi brought their gifts to Bethlehem, myrrh was rated next in value to gold. Myrrh was also the biggest selling commodity in the little spice shop in Mecca run by Mohammed before he became the prophet of Islam.

All these thoughts were tumbling through my mind as Don and I exchanged information. He reminded me that silphium was a much sought-after drug in the ancient world and was exchanged on a weight-for-weight basis with silver. It was already extinct by the end of the first century.

But the most famous of all was Ko Feng, known as the Celestial Spice.

“It's been unknown now for—how long? Four hundred years? Five hundred?” I asked Don.

“Something like that. Maybe more.”

“And now somebody's found some?”

“Right.”

“Or say they have.”

“That's where you and I come in,” he said cheerfully but I was feeling a slight chill.

“This is some authentication job,” I said grimly.

“Want to back out?”

“How could I? This may be one of the most exciting moments in the history of food since Nicolas Appert discovered how to preserve it in cans.”

“Okay, then you and I are going to have some Ko Feng in our hands next Tuesday.”

“Or not—as the case may be.”

“Pessimist.”

“Maybe, but it's hard to believe.”

“True. I guess I've had a little longer to adjust to it,” Don had said.

I finished the steak and unwrapped the cheese. It needed to sit exposed to the air for a short time so that it could recover some taste after its incarceration in aluminum foil and plastic.

Don and I had concluded our conversation with details on how, where and when. I had called him back with flight information and he had given me hotel reservation numbers. He would like to meet me at JFK, he said, but the buyer of the Ko Feng wanted a last-minute meeting with him. Don's wife, Peggy, would be taking care of the Spice Warehouse so she couldn't come either. I assured him that I could easily find my own way to the hotel in Manhattan.

Sunlight glinted off the silver wing outside my window. This time tomorrow I would be looking at some Ko Feng, the miraculous spice from thousands of years ago. I tingled with impatience. It was like anticipating a date with Cleopatra.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

copyright © 1994 by Peter King

cover design by Connie Gabbert

ISBN: 978-1-4532-7723-2 (ePub)

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