The Spice Trail - Season 1

The Spice Trail - Season 1

Season 1

Network
DatesFeb. 17, 2011 - März 2, 2011

Episodes

Pepper and Cinnamon
Season 1Episode 160 min

Pepper and Cinnamon

Kate Humble retraces the steps of 15th-century explorers as she sets out on a spice trail that takes her to India and Sri Lanka, the birthplaces of pepper and cinnamon.

She begins her travels on India's 'Spice Coast', where she uncovers the story of pepper, once known as black gold and now the most consumed spice in the world. She does the pepper dance to shake the berries from their stalk, meets farmers fighting back against a disease that is devastating pepper crops, and is taught the centuries-old secret language still used by the traders who wheel and deal in the spice.

From India, Kate heads south to Sri Lanka, the land of cinnamon - a place shrouded in mystery to Europeans until the Portugese accidentally landed on its shores. She attends the spectacular Buddhist festival, or Perahara, which celebrates local resistance to the invaders, and takes part in the delicate process of harvesting the spice and making a cinnamon quill. Finally, she witnesses the crucial make-or-break negotiations of local farmers trying to sell their crops.

Feb. 17, 2011
Nutmeg and Cloves
Season 1Episode 260 min

Nutmeg and Cloves

Kate Humble embarks on a journey around the fabled spice islands of eastern Indonesia in search of two spices that launched epic voyages of discovery, caused bloody wars and shaped empires - nutmeg and cloves. These two spices, grown on an archipelago of tiny volcanic islands, drew European explorers in search of unbelievable wealth, but also led to massacres of local people and the decimation of their culture.

Kate meets the people who have rebuilt their lives and communities around the cultivation and trade of nutmeg and cloves, takes her place on one of the fastest produciton lines in the world, and discovers how the battle for these two spices led to the beginning of the British Empire in North America.

Feb. 24, 2011
Vanilla and Saffron
Season 1Episode 360 min

Vanilla and Saffron

Kate Humble's journey takes her from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco to the plains of Spain as she uncovers the story of the world's most expensive spice, saffron, before crossing the Atlantic to Mexico in search of vanilla, a spice discovered by the famous Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes.

In the Atlas Mountains, October is saffron harvest month for the Berber people. Kate joins local saffron farmer Ahmed and his family to harvest their crop and visits a stunning store house carved into the mountainside.

Worth 4,000 pounds a kilo, saffron is also known as red gold and inspires countless imitations. In Spain, Kate turns detective as she joins a blind tasting to sort out genuine saffron from the fakes and meets a man who tests its DNA in order to make sure it's genuine.

The Berbers of Morocco took saffron to Spain in the Muslim conquest of the 8th century, and 800 years later it was an ambitious Spaniard that brought us the next exotic taste, vanilla. It's now so widespread that it has become the world's most popular ice-cream flavour.

Kate journeys to Paplanta in Mexico, the birthplace of vanilla, to meet the Totonac - the original guardian of the spice. She witnesses a spectacular death-defying fertility dance and meets the people determined to keep Mexican vanilla alive in the face of the massive competition from other producers.

März 2, 2011

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
The Rookie
Running

The Rookie

The Rookie is inspired by a true story. John Nolan is the oldest rookie in the LAPD. At an age where most are at the peak of their career, Nolan cast aside his comfortable, small town life and moved to L.A. to pursue his dream of being a cop. Now, surrounded by rookies twenty years his junior, Nolan must navigate the dangerous, humorous and unpredictable world of a "young" cop, determined to make his second shot at life count.

The Studio
Running

The Studio

As movies struggle to stay alive and relevant, Matt and his core team of infighting executives battle their own insecurities as they wrangle narcissistic artists and craven corporate overlords in the ever-elusive pursuit of making great films. With their power suits masking their never-ending sense of panic, every party, set visit, casting decision, marketing meeting, and award show presents them with an opportunity for glittering success or career-ending catastrophe. As someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes movies, it's the job Matt's been pursuing his whole life, and it may very well destroy him.

GenreComedy
True Detective
Running

True Detective

Touch darkness and darkness touches you back. True Detective centers on troubled cops and the investigations that drive them to the edge. Each season features a new cast and a new case.

True Detective is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. 

S.W.A.T.
Running

S.W.A.T.

Shemar Moore stars as a locally born and raised S.W.A.T. sergeant newly tasked to run a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles. Torn between loyalty to where he was raised and allegiance to his brothers in blue, former Marine Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson has everything it takes to be an excellent leader and bridge the divide between his two worlds.

The Equalizer
Running

The Equalizer

A reimagining of the classic series, The Equalizer centers on enigmatic woman with a mysterious background who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn.