The Indian subcontinent has always been blessed with a plethora of spices. The Ottoman capture of Constantinople and fall of the Byzantine empire led to the advent of the the so called Age of Discovery as the Portugese and various "East India trading companies" sought to bypass their tariff implemented on goods shipped through the Middle East and North Africa.
These very first multinational corporations were so successful that spices became ubiquitous in Europe and eventually lost the prestige of being a foreign luxury for the elite. That change ended up altering the emphasis of certain flavors in European cuisine, with a preference away from using many spices:
Back in the Middle Ages, spices were really expensive, which meant that only the upper class could afford them. But things started to change as Europeans began colonizing parts of India and the Americas.
"Spices begin to pour into Europe," explains Krishnendu Ray, an associate professor of food studies at New York University. "What used to be expensive and exclusive became common."
Serving richly spiced stews was no longer a status symbol for Europe's wealthiest families — even the middle classes could afford to spice up their grub. "So the elite recoiled from the increasing popularity of spices," Ray says. "They moved on to an aesthetic theory of taste. Rather than infusing food with spice, they said things should taste like themselves. Meat should taste like meat, and anything you add only serves to intensify the existing flavors."
"In Europe, meat was considered the manliest, strongest component of a meal," Laudan notes, and chefs wanted it to shine. So they began cooking meat in meat-based gravies, to intensify its flavor.