Cinnamon
SUSAN HALLETT profiles a spice native to Ceylon.
IT SEEMS THAT almost everyone loves cinnamon. In fact, the Danes love it so much that the European Union proposed a ban on Danish cinnamon rolls. The rolls are called kanelsnegler in Denmark. The concern was about the amount of the chemical compound coumarin found in some of Denmark's traditional foods. Danish bakers called this “cinnamon-gate.” Cinnamon, according to the second edition of The Columbia Encyclopedia, is the name for species of the genus Cinnamomum — tropical and semi-tropical trees and shrubs — and for their aromatic bark, which has been valued commercially for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Besides its virtue as a culinary spice, cinnamon is valued commercially as an astringent, a stimulant and a carminative. Its oil is said to have antiseptic qualities and helps reduce the pain of minor cuts. It is also used to flavour toothpaste.
Apparently cinnamon and cloves had begun to enter France as early as the eighth century, travelling from China, India and Indochina along a few of the vigorously contested trade routes that had survived in the Middle East amongst Arab traders. Herring pie was a French favourite at that time. It was a stew of pickled fish, raisins, currants and dates spiced with cinnamon, wrapped in pastry and baked.
Long before that, the Greek geographer Strabo in the first century BCE wrote of south Arabia as a centre of spice products and how the Arabs were very secretive about the source of the spices. Pliny the Elder wrote around the same time that they “bring spices over vast seas on rafts which have no rudders to steer them or oars to push or sails or other aids to navigation, but instead only the spirit of man and human courage.” Cinnamon was the main object of their travail and some said that the merchant sailors took as many as five years to make the return trip.
Part One of The Horizon Cookbook tells how Portuguese sailors, soon after Vasco da Gama arrived in the port city of Calicut in 1498, started a spice trade that included cinnamon, as well as cloves and ginger, gold and precious stones. It lasted until the English sent ships under the name of the East India Company in search of spices. The Dutch, who had been scouting the Far East for gold and spices, established The Dutch East India Company and arrived on the scene in 1602 to explore, colonize and trade, driving out British and Portuguese merchants. It monopolized the rich Spice Islands trade and was given extensive political and military authority to protect and control its traders in Asia. The company was so powerful that it could start wars, negotiate treaties and establish colonies.
Cinnamon is harvested during the rainy season when it is easy to lift the outer bark off the trees. A small knife is used to remove the inner bark in metre-long strips which are then cut and left to dry. Curls form naturally into quills.
An anointing oil using cinnamon was recommended by Moses. In Exodus 30:22-24 the Bible states that the Lord asked Moses to take “… principal spices of pure myrrh five hundred shekels (a shekel was about 2.51 lbs) and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, and of cassia, five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil an hin”, which is just over 1.6 US gallons. And the ancient Egyptians used cinnamon as one of the ingredients in their embalming oil.
There are two types of cinnamon on the market today. True cinnamon or Cinnamomum zeylanicum comes from Sri Lanka, as well as the Seychelles and Madagascar, while cassia is an export coming from China and Indonesia. It is interesting to note that both cinnamon types have been favourites since biblical times — used to kill fungus, as incense and in embalming. Both types of cinnamon have coumarin in them but cassia cinnamon has the highest levels. In one study, scientists found that cassia cinnamon powder had up to 63 times more coumarin than they found in Ceylon cinnamon. I found true or Ceylon cinnamon in Ottawa at Byward Fruit Market in the Byward Market, but it is generally difficult to find except online. It was, of course, named after the island country of Sri Lanka before its name was changed from Ceylon.
Coumarin is a toxic substance that occurs naturally in cassia, the most common type of cinnamon. The EU's concern? Liver damage may be the result of consuming too much cassia. It seems that true Ceylon cinnamon is worth looking for.
The spice's use as both a culinary and medicinal ingredient is fairly well known as it has been used for eons to flavour bland foods as well as to stimulate the appetite and aid digestion. It's great in curries, as a flavouring in carrot muffins, dark fruit cakes and in bland puddings, but why not try it with spinach or squash?