Ah Cinnamon, what a wonderful spice, taken from the dried bark of the tree of the Laurel family. Originally from Sri Lanka, it is now grown in India, Indonesia, the west indies and Indian Ocean islands. it comes in four forms, quills, quillings, ground and essential oils.
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Such a wonderful spice, it can be added to both sweet and savoury dishes (see later). It comes in five forms, quills, quillings, buds, ground and essential oils. Don't get this confused with the bark of the Cassia, which although is part of the laurel family is usually called Chinese Cinnamon. Cassia is interchangeable with cinnamon in many countries including USA, so some of the products for sale on this site might be made of Cassia, but there is no way of knowing, maybe we should have a site EverythingCassia, but I don't think we'll bother.
The cinnamon tree is an evergreen which grows to 10m(33ft) in the wild. When it is cultivated it is generally cropped to ease harvesting. It likes sandy soil and thrives in a tropical maritime climate at low altitude. It has shiny leaves with yellowish white flowers and dark blue berries.
Harvesting (twice a year) is carried out in the rainy seasons between May and June and October and November. The first harvest yields a thick inferior bark. The quality improves with successive cropping and the finest bark comes from the thin shoots at the centre of the plant. Quills are assembled then dried in the shade as direct sunlight warps them.
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