The foods of India are as significant to its civilization as its majestic monuments, art and literature. Indian food has taken on influences from as far afield as central Asia, southeast Asia and Turkey. The Europeans, too, have left an indelible imprint on Indian cuisine and introduced ingredients that are now widely used alongside native foods. These influxes of exotic produce, new crops and cooking techniques introduced by traders, pilgrims and soldiers have comgined to create a unique and dazzlingly varied cuisine.
The story of the world's love affair with Indian food dates back to the first millenium when an ancient Greek envoy described sugar cane as "Indian bamboo filled with honey". Arab traders were later lured to India's Malabar coast in the southwest by a wealth of aromatic pepper, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. It was also the lucrative spice trade that drew the Portuges explorer Vasco da Gama to India in 1498. At that time the spices were worth many times their weight in gold and the expenses incurred on Gama's expedition were recovered several ties over by the quantities he took back with him. It is estimated that one of his shipments alone consisted of 1,500 tons of pepper, twenty-eight tons of ginger, eight tons of cinnamon and seven tons of cloves. And, while India's spices attracted Europeans to the area, the tradeers brought with them the culinary secrets of leavened bred, baking and noodles. In return, the Indians introduced the Europeans to the joys of curry, mangoes and chutney.
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