Cinnamon – Be my hun, cinnamon

Carrying a distinct sweet and spicy flavour, Cinnamon is used widely in baked goods, beverages and curries. Sprinkle it on toasts or shower it on your lattes, cut it up along with your masala blend or add it in your bread batters, cinnamon will spruce up whatever you put it in. Cinnamon is essentially the dried inner stem and bark of the tree, Cinnamonum Verum. Cinnamon plants are grown as bushes and are ready to harvest once they are two years of age.

There are majorly two varieties of cinnamon available – Ceylon and Cassia – the difference being in the quantity of the base chemical, cinnamaldehyde, present within. The cassia variety is most easily available and is packed with cinnamaldehyde and yields a strong punch of the cinnamon flavour. However, as is often the case with quality, minimalism is better. Which is why the milder flavoured Ceylon variety is often referred to as the true cinnamon. As the name suggests, the Ceylon variety is native to Sri Lanka but is also grown sparingly in a few places in Kerala.

We happen to be in touch with a few such farms where this variety is available.

Our cinnamon doesn’t come in the form of quills or cinnamon rolled sticks, we instead offer it in a whole bark form. It has the flavourful outer bark of the cinnamon tree as well as the aroma rich inner stem. Crush and grind into your masala blends or put as a whole spice in your biryani preparations, its apt for both usages.

Give me some ideas where I can use it –

• Our favourite way of having the whole uncut bark is as a refreshing cold or soothing hot tea. Just add a bit of the bark in boiling water and let it brew for a few minutes before serving it hot or chilled as required.
• Another hot favourite is using cinnamon to make smoked veggies, meats and cocktails.
• Cinnamon is used in flavouring confectionary, liquors, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
• It has been known to have positive effect digestion of sugar in diabetics.
• Cinnamon leaf oil is widely used in perfumery and cosmetics.

Did you know?

The leaves of Cinnamon trees are what you know as Tej Patta or the Indian Bay Leaf. Also, there is a tree whose bark looks and feels exactly like that of cinnamon but is vastly different from the latter in terms of flavour and aroma. They are often used for mixing purposes. The way you differentiate is from their leaves, which look quite different from those of their cinnamon cousins.

Packed and marketed by: Flavour & Hues
B-1 Ext./A-39, Mohan Cooperative Industrial Estate, Mathura Road, New Delhi - 110044