This week on A Taste of the Past Linda talks salt, pepper, and spice: currency, commodity, and culinary aid. Author and culinary historian Michael Krondl breaks down the roles that specific spices played in their respective empires; the English and Dutch colonies that were built to trade it, Venice as a spice-stuffed world financial hub, and how many peppercorns made a nickel. Plus Krondl reveals that the cinnamon in your cupboard is an impostor. This episode was sponsored by Fairway: like no other market.