what is it, i wonder, that makes certain spices heavily associated with certain cuisines? like if you say cumin we think of tex-mex (despite the fact that cumin is rarely if ever used in actual mexican food), oregano is very italian, ginger is chinese or chinese-american (unless it just reminds of you gingerbread, which is fair)
-F
i mean obviously it's "that cuisine uses those spices a lot" but what drove that particular spice to be popular in that area
-F