Cinnamon

This lightly fragrant, hot and slight sweet spice is one of the oldest know spices. The spice itself is the bark that is peeled from thin branches of a small laurel like evergreen tree. The outer bark is peeled away and the inner bark is rolled up into a quill around 1 inch. When ground it has a fine and crumbly appearance and only the inner bark is used. It can be found in many forms, dried, rolled sticks, quills, ground and in an oil, which is extracted by pounding and boiling the bark. The use for cinnamon is mostly in sweets like cakes, puddings, cookies and breads. It will enhance most meat stews, especially those with lamb or chicken. It is wonderful in stuffing for duck and goose or in any stuffing made with dried fruit. I enjoy cinnamon sticks with hot drinks like cider, and hot chocolate. One of the best ways to use cinnamon is in apple pies and cinnamon buns. It is a wonderful spice and one of my favorites. True cinnamon is more expensive and is usually found in Britain.

Cassia- is closely related to cinnamon and often times confused with it. It is sweet, aromatic and has a much stronger flavor than cinnamon. Like Cinnamon is comes from the bark of a tree. It has a hard and woody texture because all of the bark is used. You may see this type labeled as Saigon Cinnamon, in fact most cinnamon sold in the US is cassia. It comes in many forms dried, peeled, rolled, ground, leaves and buds. It will turn stale very quickly so store it in a airtight containers away from light. Although it is a bit coarser it is still a wonderful if not quite, identical to cinnamon.

In the picture cinnamon is on the left and cassia is on the right.