Used plant part

Ceylon cinnamon quills

Stem bark.
Cinnamon leaves may serve as a substitute for Indian bay leaves. The unripe berries (“cinnamon buds”) are traded in very small scape.

Plant family
Lauraceae (laurel family).

Sensoric quality
Strongly aromatic, sweet, pleasant, warm and but hardly bitter or adstringent. Compared to its relatives, cinnamon has a fresh or “lively” tone that is missing in all other cinnamon species. I have to admit, though, that the adjective “lively” may not be of much help to readers unless they have tried both, in which case they won't need my description anyway.

Main constituents
The essential oil of cinnamon bark (max. 4%) is dominated by the two phenylpropanoids cinnamaldehyd (3-phenyl-acrolein, 65 to 75%) and eugenol (4-(1-propene-3-yl)-2-methoxy-phenol, 5 to 10%). Other phenylpropanoids (safrole, coumarine [0.6%] cinnamic acid esters), mono- and sesquiterpenes, although occurring only in traces, do significantly influence the taste of cinnamon. Another trace component relevant for the quality is 2-heptanone (methyl-n-amyl-ketone). The slime content of the bark is rather low (3%).

From cinnamon leaves, another essential oil (1%) can be obtained that consists mainly of

Cinnamom flowers

eugenol (70 to 95%) and can be used as a substitute for clove. Small amounts (1 to 5%) of cinnamaldehyde, benzyl benzoate, linalool and ß-caryophyllene have also been found.

A completely different composotion is found in the essential oil of cinnamon root bark; here, camphor (60%) dominates. This oil is not used commercially.

Last, in cinnamon fruits (“cassia buds”, “cinnamon buds”), the main components were found to be trans-cinnamyl acetate and ß-caryophyllene.

Origin
Cinnamomum zeylanicum originates from the island Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon), southeast of India. It is also native to south-west India and the Tenasserim Hills of Burma. Several attempts have been made to transplant cinnamon trees to other parts of the tropic world, but they have become naturalized only on the Seychelles.

Related cinnamon species are found in Indonesia, Vietnam and China.

Etymology
English cinnamon, German Zimt, Lithuanian cinamonas, Polish cynamon, Croatian and Slovenian cimet and Armenian ginamonall derive from Latin cinnamomum, which was in turn a loan from Greek kinnamomon. The origin of the word is mostly supposed Semitic, cf. Old Hebrew kinamom; it is, however, possible that the word is ultimately loaned from an early Malaysian language, cf. the modern name kayu manis “sweet wood” in Malay and Indonesian.

For names like Dutch kaneel and French canelle, see Indonesian cinnamon. Another class of names, exemplified by Hindi dal chini, Farsi darchin and Turkish tarçini, is explained in the article on cassia; see also juniper for an etymological explanation of the first part in these names.

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Cinnamon is an ancient spice mentioned several times in the Old Testament (see pomegranate on this topic), although only Chinese cinnamon (cassia) has been known in

Branch of cinnamon tree

the West until the 16.th century. Compared to the Chinese species, Ceylon cinnamon has a more delicate aroma and is the dominating quality on the Western market. See Indonesian cinnamon for a comparison of different cinnamon species. See also cassia for usage of cinnamon in Chinese cuisine and Vietnamese cinnamon for cinnamon usage in Vietnam.

Since Ceylon cinnamon is native in South Asia, it is not surprising that the cuisines of Sri Lanka and India make heavy use of it. It is equally suited for the fiery beef curries of Sri Lanka and the subtle, fragrant rice dishes (biriyanis) of the Emperial North Indian cuisine. It is also widely in use for flavouring tea. Cinnamon is also popular in all regions where Persian or Arab influence is felt: West, South West and Central Asia, Northern and Eastern Africa.

Although cinnamon was very popular in Europe in the 16.th to 18.th centuries, is importance is now rather shrunken: the main application for cinnamon in Western cooking are several kinds of desserts; stewed fruits, for instance, are usually flavoured with a mixture of cloves and cinnamon. Cinnamon is, however, only rarely tried for spicy dishes.

In India, cinnamon is applied as a whole; the bark pieces are fried in hot oil until they unroll (this is important to release the fragrance); then, temperature is quenched by adding other components, like tomatoes, onions or yoghurt (see onions and black cumin for further details). The cinnamon chunks may be removed before serving, but are more frequently kept as a fragrant decoration.'

Cinnamon buds

In most other countries, powdered cinnamon is preferred. The powder should be added shortly before serving, as it becomes slightly bitter after some time of cooking. Powdered cinnamon is contained in several spice mixtures, like North Indian garam masala (see cumin), curry powder (see curry leaves) and Arabic baharat (see paprika). African spice mixtures in Arabic style are Moroccan ras el hanout (see cubeb pepper), Tunisian gâlat dagga (see grains of paradise) and berbere, an Ethiopian spice mixture with somewhat Indian character (see long pepper). Cinnamon bark is, furthermore, an optional ingredient for the classical French mixture quatre épices (see nutmeg). For Chinese five spice powder, see cassia. Cinnamon has become popular in México; see paprika for its usage for the famous mole sauces.

The so-called “cinnamon buds” are the unripe fruits harvested shortly after the blossom; in appearance, they are similar to cloves. These buds are less aromatic than the bark; their odour is, however, rather interesting: mild, pure and sweet. to release their fragrance, they must be finely ground. Their usage as a spice has only regional importance in China (there obtained from the cassia tree) and India (region Kutch in the union state Gujarat). I cannot explain why, but spice vendors tend to confuse cinnamon buds with cubeb pepper berries, which look and taste totally different.