the dried bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, a tree indigenous to Sri Lanka, and sometimes known as Ceylon cinnamon, has been an important spice since antiquity; but there was then, and indeed still is, confusion between cinnamon and cassia bark (C. aromaticum). In French, for example, the single word cannelle applies to both. And in the USA the term cinnamon can legally be applied to cassia bark, which is more plentiful and thus less expensive, whereas the British pharmacopoeia requires cinnamon to be the product of C. zeylanicum. Although these spices are closely related, cassia is thicker and coarser and its taste is less delicate.
Purseglove et al. (1981) have surveyed the historical problems of identification and the opinions expressed on the possible use of cinnamon in very early times. They draw attention to the likelihood, explained by Burkill (1965–6), that the barks entering into the cinnamon trade have changed in the course of time and continue:
It seems probable that the ancient Greeks and Romans had both cinnamon and cassia, but the Arab traders who supplied them protected their business interests by deliberately shrouding the sources of their products in mystery. Both Herodotus (5th century bc) and Theophrastus (4th century bc), who believed that cinnamon and cassia came from the region of Arabia, offered fantastic stories. Thus Theophrastus:
they say it grows in valleys where there are snakes with a deadly bite, so they protect their hands and feet when they go down to collect it. When they have brought it out they divide it into three portions and draw lots for them with the sun, and whichever portion the sun wins they leave behind. As soon as they leave it, they say, they see it burst into flame. This is of course fantasy.
During the 12th to 14th centuries Arabic writers alluded to true cinnamon from Ceylon, and recognized its superiority. Finding it was one of the goals of 15th- and 16th-century explorers. Columbus thought that he had found it in Cuba in 1492, but the bark brought to him probably came from a tree of the genus Canella, the W. Indian ‘wild cinnamon’. It was the Portuguese who eventually found cinnamon in its wild state in Ceylon, in 1505, and it was mainly for the cinnamon that they proceeded to occupy the island. When the Dutch took over the island in 1636, they inherited the monopoly in cinnamon, and began its cultivation. After the British conquest in 1796, the East India Company acquired the monopoly and kept it until 1833, when trade in cinnamon was freed.
The second most important source of true cinnamon is the Seychelles Islands, where it was introduced in the late 18th century by the French. In 1815 this source also passed into British hands. Some true cinnamon is also produced in the Malagasy Republic.
Cultivators of cinnamon manage their rootstocks in such a way as to encourage the formation of numerous straight shoots, in bush form. When these growing stems are about as high as a human being, they are harvested and taken away in bundles for peeling and processing.
Peeling involves first the stripping off of the outer bark. The inner bark is then rubbed with a heavy brass rod to loosen it, incisions are made round it and down each side, and it is prised off in half sections. The curled strips thus obtained are subsequently scraped clean and formed into compound quills, about 1 m (40″) long; each quill consists of many strips rolled together into a cylindrical shape, and trimmed and dried. For retail sale, they are cut into shorter lengths. Cinnamon is also commonly sold in powdered form, often (whether this is stated or not) in a mixture with powdered cassia bark.
Although it is always cinnamaldehyde and eugenol, with other minor components, which impart the characteristic odour and flavour of C. zeylanicum, the chemical composition of cinnamon products varies considerably. It and other factors affecting quality are influenced by the soil on which the shoots are grown, the cultivar used, the techniques of processing, etc.; so appraisal is a matter for experts.
The quills themselves are the subject of a complicated system of grading, in which the main groupings are Fine, Mexican, and Hamburg.
Cinnamon bark oil is the source of the cinnamon essence which is used for culinary purposes. Cinnamon leaf oil is a different product, whose very high eugenol content gives it a clovelike aroma.
In European cookery, cinnamon is mainly used for flavouring baked goods and confectionery. Chocolate with cinnamon was a combination favoured by the Spanish in the 16th century, when supplies of the new commodity were shipped back to the homeland from S. America. Cinnamon is also a favourite spice for fruit compotes and kindred sweet dishes. Outside Europe, it is used as often in savoury dishes. Meat stews of the Middle East such as Moroccan tagine and Iranian khoresht are often spiced with cinnamon; indeed, in Lebanon and most of Syria the only spices used on meat are cinnamon and allspice. As part of the traditional garam masala (see masala), it is used extensively for the aromatic dishes, for example pilaf.
It is sometimes served at table as a condiment, for example to sprinkle over melon. Cinnamon toast is especially popular in N. America. Elizabeth David (1970) points out that in England silver casters were often intended to be filled with cinnamon (not sugar) to be sprinkled on toast and muffins.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
David, Elizabeth (1970), Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen, London: Penguin.
