Spice in the context of Marination

Mark 16 is the final chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Christopher Tuckett refers to it as a "sequel to the story of Jesus' death and burial". The chapter begins after the sabbath has ended, with Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome purchasing spices to bring to the tomb next morning to anoint Jesus' body. There they encounter the stone rolled away, the tomb open, and a young man dressed in white who announces the resurrection of Jesus (16:1–6). The two oldest manuscripts of Mark 16 (from the 300s) conclude with verse 8, which ends with the women fleeing from the empty tomb, and saying "nothing to anyone, because they were too frightened".

Textual critics have identified two distinct alternative endings: the "Longer Ending" (verses 9–20) and the unversed "Shorter Ending" or "lost ending", which appear together in six Greek manuscripts, and in dozens of Ethiopic copies. Modern versions of the New Testament generally include the Longer Ending, but place it in brackets or otherwise format it to show that it was not part of the original text.

Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus Myristica; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg (M. fragrans) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, and mace, from the seed covering. It is also a commercial source of nutmeg essential oil and nutmeg butter. The Banda Islands, in Maluku, Indonesia, are the main producer of nutmeg and mace, and the true nutmeg tree is native to the islands.

Nutmeg and mace, commonly used as food spices, have been traditionally employed for their psychoactive and aphrodisiac effects, though clinical evidence is lacking. High doses can cause serious toxic effects including acute psychosis, with risks heightened during pregnancy and with psychiatric conditions.

Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre, Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.

Zanzibar is also a semi-autonomous region that united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the present-day United Republic of Tanzania. The archipelago's main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism. The main spices produced are clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, coconut, and black pepper. The Zanzibar Archipelago, together with Tanzania's Mafia Island, is sometimes referred to locally as the "Spice Islands". Tourism in Zanzibar is a more recent activity, driven by government promotion that caused an increase from 19,000 tourists in 1985, to 376,000 in 2016. The islands are accessible via five ports and the Abeid Amani Karume International Airport, which can serve up to 1.5 million passengers per year.

Nusantara is the Indonesian name of Maritime Southeast Asia (or parts of it). It is an Old Javanese term that literally means "outer islands". In Indonesia, it is generally taken to mean the Indonesian Archipelago. Outside of Indonesia, the term has been adopted to refer to the Malay Archipelago.

The word Nusantara is taken from an oath by Gajah Mada in 1336, as written in the Old Javanese Pararaton. Gajah Mada was a powerful military leader and prime minister of Majapahit credited with bringing the empire to its peak of glory. Gajah Mada delivered an oath called Sumpah Palapa, in which he vowed not to eat any food containing spices until he had conquered all of Nusantara under the glory of Majapahit.The concept of Nusantara as a unified region was not invented by Gajah Mada in 1336. The term Nusantara was first used by Kertanegara of Singhasari in Mula Malurung inscription dated 1255. Furthermore, in 1275, the term Cakravala Mandala Dvipantara was used by him to describe the aspiration of united Southeast Asian archipelago under Singhasari and marked the beginning of his efforts to achieve it. Dvipantara is a Sanskrit word for the "islands in between", making it a synonym to Nusantara as both dvipa and nusa mean "island". Kertanegara envisioned the union of Southeast Asian maritime kingdoms and polities under Singhasari as a bulwark against the rise of the expansionist Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China.

The Barossa Valley wine region is one of Australia's oldest and prestigious wine regions. Located in South Australia, the Barossa Valley is about 56 km (35 miles) northeast of the city of Adelaide. Unlike most of Australia whose wine industry was heavily influenced by the British, the wine industry of the Barossa Valley was founded by German settlers fleeing persecution from the Prussian province of Silesia (in what is now Poland). The warm continental climate of the region promoted the production of very ripe grapes that was the linchpin of the early Australian fortified wine industry. As the modern Australian wine industry shifted towards red table wines (particularly those made by the prestigious Cabernet Sauvignon) in the mid-20th century, the Barossa Valley fell out of favor due to its reputation for being largely a Syrah from producers whose grapes were destined for blending. During this period the name "Barossa Valley" rarely appeared on wine labels. In the 1980s, the emergence of several boutique families specializing in old vine Shiraz wines began to capture international attention for the distinctive style of Barossa Shiraz, a full bodied red wine with rich chocolate and spice notes. This led to a renaissance in the Barossa Valley which catapulted the region to the forefront of the Australian wine industry.

Many of Australia's largest and most notable wineries are either headquartered or own extensive holdings in the Barossa Valley. These include such wineries as Penfolds, Peter Lehmann, Orlando Wines, Seppeltsfield, Wolf Blass and Yalumba. Many Shiraz vines in the Barossa Valley are several decades old, with some vineyards planted with old vines that are 100–150 years old including Turkey Flat in Tanunda that is home to the oldest commercially producing grape vines, originally planted in 1847. Other grape varieties grown in the Barossa Valley include Grenache, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Chardonnay and Semillon.

Mead (/miːd/), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. Possibly the most ancient alcoholic drink, the defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the beverage's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling, and despite a common misconception that mead is exclusively sweet, it can also be dry or semi-sweet.

Mead that also contains spices is called metheglin (/mɪˈθɛɡlɪn/), and mead that contains fruit is called melomel. The term honey wine is sometimes used as a synonym for mead, although wine is typically defined to be the product of fermented grapes or certain other fruits, and some cultures have honey wines that are distinct from mead. The honey wine of Hungary, for example, is the fermentation of honey-sweetened pomace of grapes or other fruits.

Human food is food which is fit for human consumption, and which humans willingly eat. Food is a basic necessity of life, and humans typically seek food out as an instinctual response to hunger; however, not all things that are edible constitute as human food.

Humans eat various substances for energy, enjoyment and nutritional support. These are usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contain essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Humans are highly adaptable omnivores, and have adapted to obtain food in many different ecosystems. Historically, humans secured food through two main methods: hunting and gathering and agriculture. As agricultural technologies improved, humans settled into agriculture lifestyles with diets shaped by the agriculture opportunities in their region of the world. Geographic and cultural differences have led to the creation of numerous cuisines and culinary arts, including a wide array of ingredients, herbs, spices, techniques, and dishes. As cultures have mixed through forces like international trade and globalization, ingredients have become more widely available beyond their geographic and cultural origins, creating a cosmopolitan exchange of different food traditions and practices.

Curing is any of various food preservation and flavoring processes of foods such as meat, fish and vegetables, by the addition of salt, with the aim of drawing moisture out of the food by the process of osmosis. Because curing increases the solute concentration in the food and hence decreases its water potential, the food becomes inhospitable for the microbe growth that causes food spoilage. Curing can be traced back to antiquity, and was the primary method of preserving meat and fish until the late 19th century. Dehydration was the earliest form of food curing. Many curing processes also involve smoking, spicing, cooking, or the addition of combinations of sugar, nitrate, and nitrite.

Meat preservation in general (of meat from livestock, game, and poultry) comprises the set of all treatment processes for preserving the properties, taste, texture, and color of raw, partially cooked, or cooked meats while keeping them edible and safe to consume. Curing has been the dominant method of meat preservation for thousands of years, although modern developments like refrigeration and synthetic preservatives have begun to complement and supplant it.

The Champagne fairs were an annual cycle of trade fairs which flourished in different towns of the County of Champagne in Northeastern France in the 12th and 13th centuries, originating in local agricultural and stock fairs. Each fair lasted about two to three weeks. The Champagne fairs, sited on ancient land routes and largely self-regulated through the development of the Lex mercatoria ("merchant law"), became an important engine in the reviving economic history of medieval Europe, "veritable nerve centers" serving as a premier market for textiles, leather, fur, and spices. At their height, in the late 12th and the 13th century, the fairs linked the cloth-producing cities of the Low Countries with the Italian dyeing and exporting centers, with Genoa in the lead, dominating the commercial and banking relations operating at the frontier region between the north and the Mediterranean. The Champagne fairs were one of the earliest manifestations of a linked European economy, a characteristic of the High Middle Ages.

The incense trade route was an ancient network of major land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods, stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant and Egypt through Northeast Africa and Arabia —through both the sea and the land along the Red Sea— to India and beyond. These routes collectively served as channels for the trading of goods such as Arabian frankincense and myrrh; Indian spices, precious stones, pearls, ebony, silk and fine textiles; and from the Horn of Africa, rare woods, feathers, animal skins, Somali frankincense, gold, and slaves. The incense land trade from South Arabia to the Mediterranean flourished between roughly the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century AD.

Cardamom (/ˈkɑːrdəməm/), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are recognized by their small seed pods: triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin, papery outer shell and small, black seeds; Elettaria pods are light green and smaller, while Amomum pods are dark brown and larger.

Species used for cardamom are native throughout tropical and subtropical Asia. The first references to cardamom are found in Sumer, and in Ayurveda. In the 21st century, it is cultivated mainly in India, Indonesia, and Guatemala.

Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and sour flavor. "Ketchup" now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes for different varieties contained mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, or walnuts, among other ingredients.

Tomato ketchup is made from tomatoes, sugar, and vinegar, with seasonings and spices. The spices and flavors vary but commonly include onions, allspice, coriander, cloves, cumin, garlic, mustard and sometimes include celery, cinnamon, or ginger. Tomato ketchup is often used as a condiment for dishes that are usually served hot, and are fried or greasy: e.g., french fries and other potato dishes, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, hot sandwiches, meat pies, cooked eggs, and grilled or fried meat.

Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium aromaticum (/sɪˈzɪdʒiːəm ˌærəˈmætɪkəm/). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or fragrance in consumer products, such as toothpaste, soaps, or cosmetics. Cloves are available throughout the year owing to different harvest seasons across various countries.

Saffron (/ˈsæfrən, -rɒn/ ) is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in food. The saffron crocus was slowly propagated throughout much of Eurasia and was later brought to parts of North Africa, North America, and Oceania.

Saffron's taste and iodoform-like or hay-like fragrance result from the phytochemicals picrocrocin and safranal. It also contains a carotenoid pigment, crocin, which imparts a rich golden-yellow hue to dishes and textiles. Its quality is graded by the proportion of red stigma to yellow style, varying by region and affecting both potency and value. As of 2024, Iran produced some 90% of the world total for saffron. At US$5,000 per kg or higher, saffron has long been the world's costliest spice by weight.

An aril (/ˈærɪl/), also called arillus (plural arilli), is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode, or false aril, is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the seed to the ovary (from the funiculus or hilum), an arillode forms from a different point on the seed coat. The term "aril" is sometimes applied to any fleshy appendage of the seed in flowering plants, such as the mace of the nutmeg seed. Arils and arillodes are often edible enticements that encourage animals to transport the seed, thereby assisting in seed dispersal. Pseudarils are aril-like structures commonly found on the pyrenes of Burseraceae species that develop from the mesocarp of the ovary. The fleshy, edible pericarp splits neatly in two halves, then falling away or being eaten to reveal a brightly coloured pseudaril around the black seed.

The aril may create a fruit-like structure, called (among other names) a false fruit. False fruit are found in numerous Angiosperm taxa. The edible false fruit of the longan, lychee and ackee fruits are highly developed arils surrounding the seed rather than a pericarp layer. Such arils are also found in a few species of gymnosperms, notably the yews and related conifers such as the lleuque and the kahikatea. Instead of the woody cone typical of most gymnosperms, the reproductive structure of the yew consists of a single seed that becomes surrounded by a fleshy, cup-like covering. This covering is derived from a highly modified cone scale.

A liqueur (UK: /lɪˈkjʊər/ li-KURE, US: /lɪˈkɜːr/ li-KUR; French: [likœʁ]) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged, beyond a resting period during production, when necessary, for their flavors to mingle.

Liqueurs are historical descendants of herbal medicines. They were made in France as early as the 13th century, often prepared by monks (for example, Chartreuse). Today they are produced all over the world, commonly served neat, over ice, with coffee, in cocktails, and used in cooking.

Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli (from Classical Nahuatl chīlli [ˈt͡ʃiːlːi] ), are varieties of berry-fruit plants from the genus Capsicum, which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency (spicy heat). They are used as a spice to add pungency in many cuisines. Capsaicin and the related capsaicinoids give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically. Chili peppers exhibit a range of heat and flavors. This diversity is the reason behind the availability of different types of chili powder, each offering its own taste and heat level.

Chili peppers originated in Central or South America and were first cultivated in Mexico. European explorers brought chili peppers back to the Old World in the late 16th century as part of the Columbian Exchange, which led to the cultivation of multiple varieties across the world for food and traditional medicine. Five Capsicum species have been widely cultivated: annuum, baccatum, chinense, frutescens, and pubescens.