Ceylon Cinnamon - ground
Ceylon Cinnamon - ground
Cinnamomum zeylanicum (verum)
Cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka. Like cassia cinnamon, it comes from the evergreen tree of the laurel family.
This highly lucrative monopoly was controlled by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and finally the English for 200 years until the end of the 18th century. By the late 18th century, cinnamon was also planted in Java, India, and the Seychelles, ending the monopoly.
This type of cinnamon is also known as "canela" or true cinnamon - verum.
Unlike cassia, which can contain up to 8% coumarin, Ceylon cinnamon has only 0.004%, making it suitable for daily use without any risk.
Today, the largest producers of Ceylon cinnamon are Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and the Seychelles. It's essential to note that Ceylon cinnamon doesn't have to exclusively come from Sri Lanka as long as it belongs to the zeylanicum species.
FLAVOR
Cinnamon has a warm, sweet, and woody aroma that is delicate yet intense.
The taste is fragrant and warm with hints of cloves and citrus. The presence of eugenol distinguishes cinnamon from cassia cinnamon, giving it a clove note.
USAGE
It is used in the form of dried bark sticks or ground cinnamon.
BUYING AND STORAGE
Ground cinnamon - the paler, the better quality - is widely available but quickly loses its flavor, so buy it in small quantities.
Ceylon cinnamon is much more expensive than cassia, especially when buying sticks, as the production itself is much more complicated. Ceylon cinnamon is rolled in such a way that the delicate bark folds into a rolled piece.
The categorization of Ceylon cinnamon has 4 general divisions, starting from the thinnest stick made from the most delicate parts of the bark - ALBA, with a diameter of 6 mm, followed by CONTINENTAL, MEXICAN, and HAMBURG.
Whole cinnamon sticks are available in specialty stores and some supermarkets.
If stored in a well-sealed container, they can retain their aroma for 2-3 years.
CULINARY USE
The fine taste of cinnamon goes well in all kinds of desserts, spiced bread, and cakes; it particularly complements chocolate and apples, bananas, and pears. Use it in apple pies or baked apples, in bananas fried in butter, in rum, or in red wine in which you poach pears.
It also adds an excellent aroma to many meat dishes and vegetable dishes in Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine. Moroccan chefs often use it in lamb or chicken tagines, in casseroles as a side to couscous, and above all for flavoring bastilla, a pie of crispy, layered dough filled with pigeon and almonds.
In the famous Arabic lamb casserole with apricots - mishmisheya - cinnamon and other spices are used and play a role in many Iranian khoresh (casseroles) as an addition to rice. In India, cinnamon is used in many masalas (sauces), chutneys, and condiments, and in spicy pilafs.
Mexico is the main importer of cinnamon, used to flavor coffee and chocolate drinks; cinnamon tea is popular in Central and South America, once popular for spicing beer, cinnamon, together with cloves, sugar, and sliced oranges, is excellent for flavoring mulled wine.
GOOD WITH almonds, apples, apricots, bananas, chocolate, coffee, eggplant, lamb, pears, poultry, rice.
| Energy | 1033 kJ/ 247 kcal |
| Fats | 1.2 g |
| - of which saturated fatty acids | 0.3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 81 g |
| - of which sugars | 2.2 g |
| Proteins | 4 g |
| Salt | 0.010 g |
| Fibers | 53 g |
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