Pepper: The Master Spice In the 15th century, Portugal's Vasco Da Gama navigated the first route around Africa to reach pepper's source, India, breaking the monopoly of wealthy Venetian merchant traders. Today, pepper is an important crop of Malaysia where it is shown at all stages of growing and processing for the world market. The Spice Of Life videos here are posted in tribute to Writer, Producer and Director Lyn Gambles www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/aug/09/lyn-gambles-obituary BBC Series narrated by Edward Woodward