Summary

The Indian Ocean, with its annual monsoons, has served as an arena for human movement and the conveyance of foodstuffs for millennia. Climatological factors give rise to numerous distinct hydroclimates, ranging from the Nile River Valley to the Yemeni highlands and the vast watershed of the Himalayas. These environments supported domestication, cultivation, and redistribution of multiple staples, including wheat and rice. Spices, alongside aromatics, natural fibers, and organic dyes, were among the most popular items of trade: for example, black peppercorns, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, and cassia. Littoral populations throughout the Indian Ocean world (often derided as ichthyophages, or “fish eaters”) relied upon local fisheries for their own sustenance and commodities of trade—not only the daily catch of fishermen but also corals and pearls collected by divers and foragers.

The early modern period heralded a distinct change. For one, foodways radically changed with the introduction of plant species from the Americas and the formation of a wider “Indo-Atlantic” world. Although acquisition of spices motivated Europeans to establish colonial footholds throughout the Afro-Asian world, increased interest in and (forced) cultivation of stimulants emerged to sustain the changing tastes of consumers (e.g., sugar, coffee, and tea). Despite the economic and ecological transformations brought on by modernity, the Indian Ocean remains a region of intense activity, its many cuisines preserving a shared, interconnected past.