Joanna Lumley’s Spice Trail Adventure on ABC – Discover the fascinating origins and histories of our staple spices as actor Joanna Lumley travels halfway across the globe on an epic culinary voyage.
Lumley takes an intrepid 15,000-mile voyage from the remote Banda Islands in Indonesia to the stunning natural landscapes of Jordan in the Middle East, revealing the story of how West met East and how the battle to control the cultivation and sale of spices dictated the course of history for centuries.
Following in the footsteps of pharaohs, crusaders, explorers and kings – and tasting spice-laden dishes along the way – Joanna traces an ancient route that crosses two continents and the Indian Ocean, taking in remote islands, jungles, mountains and the arid plains of the Middle East where she ends her journey.
In episode one, Joanna is heading to a collection of remote Indonesian islands, so small that her first challenge is finding them on the map. The Banda Islands were once the only place on earth where nutmeg grew. Joanna meets a family who make their living from harvesting them, she uncovers the dark history of Banda’s past and discovers that Banda’s charms once attracted A listers, including Mick Jagger.
In the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta Joanna finds out what the attraction is of the 200 million clove cigarettes that are smoked in Indonesia every day. She pops into a cool speakeasy bar to taste a cocktail that is all about the spice and ends up discovering a newfound love of Indonesia’s national pop music.
Production credit: Executive Producers Clive Tulloh and Joanna Lumley. A Burning Bright production for ITV. Distributed by BBC Studios.
Joanna Lumley’s Spice Trail Adventure on ABC and ABC iview – Sunday 29 October at 7.30pm
TV Central ABC content HERE
