that's the same reason why Indian currys are so spicy. Basically the meat would have been there for a while and going off so they packed the curry with spices to disguise the taste ! In India it's much hotter so the meat goes off more so more spices were required.
It wasn't just that they might have been going off. Salt was often used as a preservative and then spice would be added to take away the taste of the salt.
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