Spice

===Early modern period===
Voyagers from [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]] were interested in seeking new routes to trade in spices and other valuable products from Asia. The control of trade routes and the spice-producing regions were the main reasons that [[Portugal|Portuguese]] navigator [[Vasco da Gama]] sailed to [[India]] in 1499.<sup>[[Spice#cite note-8|[8]]]</sup> When da Gama discovered the pepper market in India, he was able to secure peppers for a much cheaper price than the ones demanded by [[Venice]].<ref name=":0" /> At around the same time, [[Christopher Columbus]] returned from the [[New World]]. He described to [[investor]]s the new spices available there.<ref>Turner, 2004, p. 11</ref>{{Efn|The word "ají" is still used in South American Spanish for chili peppers.}}

Another source of competition in the spice trade during the 15th and 16th centuries was the [[Republic of Ragusa|Ragusans]] from the maritime republic of [[Dubrovnik]] in southern Croatia.<ref>Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, p. 453, Gil Marks, John Wiley & Sons, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-470-39130-3}}</ref> The military prowess of [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] (1453–1515) allowed the Portuguese to take control of the sea routes to India. In 1506, he took the island of [[Socotra]] in the mouth of the [[Red Sea]] and, in 1507, [[Ormuz]] in the [[Persian Gulf]]. Since becoming the [[viceroy]] of the [[Indies]], he took [[Goa]] in India in 1510, and [[Malacca]] on the [[Malay Peninsula]] in 1511. The Portuguese could now trade directly with [[Thailand|Siam]], [[China]], and the [[Maluku Islands]].

With the discovery of the New World came new spices, including [[allspice]], [[chili pepper]]s, [[vanilla]], and [[chocolate]]. This development kept the spice trade, with America as a latecomer with its new seasonings, profitable well into the 19th century.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}