The Politics of Produce · Episode 4 of 17 · 21 min
The Empire's Red: Cochineal, the Insect That Painted the World
The most brilliant red in the world came from a crushed cactus insect, and Spain guarded its secret for nearly three centuries. Aztec crimson tribute became one of the empire's most valuable exports after silver, the target of spies and smugglers. Synthetic dyes later collapsed the trade, and today's carmine (E120) survives in food and cosmetics.
Who's who
- Nicolas-Joseph Thiery de MenonvilleFrench botanist who smuggled live cochineal out of Oaxaca in 1777
- William Perkinchemist whose 1856 aniline mauve began the synthetic dye era
Where it happens
- Oaxaca, Mexicoheartland of cochineal production
- Saint-DomingueFrench colony where the smuggled insects were taken
- Peru+1 more episodenow the dominant exporter of cochineal
- Veracruz, Mexico+1 more episodeport in the route to Seville and Cadiz
Timeline
- 15th centuryAztec provinces in the Oaxaca region pay dried cochineal as tribute
- 1519-1521Spanish conquest; conquistadors see cochineal cloth in Tenochtitlan
- 1777Thiery de Menonville smuggles cochineal and nopal to Saint-Domingue
- 1856Perkin's mauve opens the way to synthetic dyes
- 2012controversy erupts over cochineal extract in Starbucks drinks
Still debated
The claim that cochineal ranked second only to silver among Spanish American exports is a strong generalization, but the ranking shifts by period. How secret the secret really was is also questioned, since microscopy named it an insect by the early 1700s.