The BBC did a really interesting series about spices a while ago. If you can find a means to watch, it's well worth it and very interesting. Some of the fun facts I can remember: Most vanilla is...
Most vanilla is grown in Madagascar, where the bees which pollinate it don't live. So each flower gets pollinated by hand, and vanilla is one of those awkward plants which each flower only opens once for like 15 minutes at 3am. Mexican vanilla is pollinated by bees and, in my opinion, much nicer anyway.
There are only a handful of people left alive who know how to roll cinnamon quills. True cinnamon is relatively hard to find and fairly expensive, a lot of the quills and powder sold as cinnamon is actually cassia.
Many spices can only be processed by hand due to being very delicate. All saffron is harvested by hand, as are cloves, but peppercorns are harvested by foot - the stems are stomped to release the corns before processing.
The BBC did a really interesting series about spices a while ago. If you can find a means to watch, it's well worth it and very interesting.
Some of the fun facts I can remember:
Most vanilla is grown in Madagascar, where the bees which pollinate it don't live. So each flower gets pollinated by hand, and vanilla is one of those awkward plants which each flower only opens once for like 15 minutes at 3am. Mexican vanilla is pollinated by bees and, in my opinion, much nicer anyway.
There are only a handful of people left alive who know how to roll cinnamon quills. True cinnamon is relatively hard to find and fairly expensive, a lot of the quills and powder sold as cinnamon is actually cassia.
Many spices can only be processed by hand due to being very delicate. All saffron is harvested by hand, as are cloves, but peppercorns are harvested by foot - the stems are stomped to release the corns before processing.
Epicurious also did a Price Points video that is related and pretty interesting too:
Spice Expert Guesses Cheap vs Expensive Spices