The Spice Trail is a story of epic voyages, bloody wars, the birth of multinational companies and contemporary cultures around the globe. In Medieval times spices were thought to have medicinal properties that could cure disease they were also unbelievably expensive and a symbol of wealth and power. A small sack of nutmeg could buy a London town house, pepper was traded as currency (hence the term peppercorn rent) and the world's most expensive spice saffron was and still is known as red gold. With immense fortunes to be made explorers set forth in search of these tastes of paradise and Kate Humble will be retracing their footsteps as she journeys around the globe on the trail of some of the most coveted spices in the world. Kate will uncover the story of the most heavily traded spice in the world - pepper in India before heading south to the cinnamon lands of Sri Lanka a place shrouded in mystery for Europeans until the Portugese accidentally landed on its shores. In Indonesia she'll journey around the fabled spice islands an archipelago of tiny volcanic islands once known as paradise on earth that drew European explorers in search of nutmeg and clove. And from the Atlas mountains of Morocco she'll follow the spice trail to Spain as she reveals the story of the world's most expensive spice - saffron before heading across the Atlantic to Mexico in search of vanilla a spice discovered by the most famous Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes. The Spice Trail is a journey to find out how spices shaped our modern world during on of the greatest periods of discovery the world has known and an account of the role these spices still play in the communities of the exotic birthplaces. Episodes include:Pepper and Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Cloves, Vanilla and Saffron.