The spicing was already well developed for vegetables and dried beans, peas and lentils. It was vegetarian spicing that was adapted to meat in many cases.
In India, I think it was the huge number of spices and ready availability that did the trick, and in France the prestige of the high expense (you could always have salted or pickled your meat to preserve it on the cheap - or tossed it in a sauce pot and stewed it forever as in Italy).