The Maritime Silk Roads, known today as Spice Routes, are a moniker for the essential network of sea trade routes that link East to West. Stretching from the west coast of Japan through Indonesia, around India and past the Middle East, continuing on across the Mediterranean and into Europe, this 15,000 kilometer route has been essential to trade for thousands of years. By no later than 2000 BCE, goods from the cities of China and the tropics of Sri Lanka were readily available for trade in the Middle East.
While the primary purpose of Spice Routes was for trade of spices and other profitable products, the defining outcome was cultural exchange. Knowledge of new peoples, their religions, languages, expertise, art, and scientific skills were passed along with these traded goods. Ports along the Spice Routes were melting pots for ideas and information, and helped define some of the most successful trading cities in the world today.
Mirzam is a Middle Eastern chocolate maker honoring the tradition of these seafaring traders. Through the lens of craft chocolate, they offer recipes and ingredients that represent the cultures along this vast network of ancient ports.
At Caputo’s, we fight to protect the food traditions of our ancestors. Few things have shaped these traditions quite like the Spice Route. The cultural exchange fostered here within enables us to fight through the lens of education while gathering and celebrating this rich history. Every time we take the time to celebrate a unique food tradition we are pushing back against the forces of standardization in the industrial food system.
Just eating Mirzam chocolate is a privilege. Having them visit our city and being able to welcome them to our home is an absolute honor. And I can hardly think of a better reason to celebrate. We were honored to host our esteemed guests all the way from the United Arab Emirates; Obaid, Fatima and Kathy, and will remember this Industry Night for years to come.