Every Spice in Your Kitchen

The article, excerpted from *Delicious: The Evolution of Flavor and How It Made Us Human*, explores why humans began using spices despite the fact that most spice plants evolved strong-smelling and bitter chemicals specifically as defences against being eaten. The authors explain that humans learn to enjoy these flavours partly through prenatal and early-life exposure, as fetuses and infants become conditioned to prefer aromas present in their mothers' diets. Archaeological and experimental evidence suggests that spices were likely adopted for practical reasons — particularly their antimicrobial properties, which helped preserve food — before becoming culturally and culinarily significant across human societies.