• Submitted by: admin
• Local
• Arts and Culture
• Camagüey
• culture an traditions
• Society
• Business and Economy
• 04 / 15 / 2009

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A peculiar shop in the Cuban eastern city of Camaguey exclusively sells products that have captivated the humankind through history in fields such as cooking, magic and medicine.

Placed in a sector recently declared by the UNESCO a World Heritage Site, the “Mercado del Oriente” (Market of the East) keeps its customers happy once they find there a store that specializes in aromatic plants, seeds and herbs, mainly for gastronomic usage.

Over 30 items are sold in the store, located just near the Square of Arms –now Agramonte Park- owned by Santa María Company, an agency of the Office of the Historian of the City of Camagüey (OHCC).

Cumin, laurel, cinnamon, clove, curry, pepper, ginger, tea, nutmeg, colouring plants and aromatic extracts and flavourings are part of a large selection of plants which originates in diverse tropical areas of mainland Asia and Maluku Islands in Indonesia.

More than 100 customers constantly come in and out of the store, where aside from buying its products people enrich their knowledge about these ancestral spices.

Opened on March 15th, the establishment is part of a chain of currency collection outlets, which invest their profits in the maintenance and rehabilitation of the historical built patrimony.

(Radio Nuevitas)