Author: Suhaib Jabbour

When traders from the Arabian Peninsula began to reach the shores of the Indian subcontinent, they exchanged not only goods and information, but also flavors, which for millennia shaped the shared gastronomic heritage we know today. While an Indian meal is usually incomplete without naan, a leavened flatbread that originated in the Middle East, most of the signature Arab dishes are not possible without Indian spices. From as early as 2,000 B.C, spices from South and East Asia were exported along the Silk Road to the Middle East, from where they later entered Europe. They were highly valued — used…