The inner bark of a tree, rolled as it dries — and two different species sold under one name, with genuinely different flavours and different safety profiles.
Where it comes from
True cinnamon, Cinnamomum verum, is native to Sri Lanka. Cassia, from several related species, comes from China, Indonesia and Vietnam. Most cinnamon sold in North America and much of Europe is cassia, and it is not labelled as such.
The bark is stripped from young shoots, the outer layer scraped away, and the inner bark curls into quills as it dries. True cinnamon makes fragile many-layered quills; cassia makes a single thick hard curl. Once ground they are hard to tell apart, which is much of the problem.
In much of the world cinnamon is a savoury spice first — it is standard in Persian, Moroccan, Turkish and Mexican meat dishes — and the association with sweetness is a northern European habit rather than a rule.
Varieties
- Ceylon / true cinnamon — Delicate, floral, complex, mild. Thin brittle quills.
- Cassia — Stronger, hotter, sweeter, blunter. Thick hard quills, and what most people recognise as the cinnamon flavour.
- Saigon cassia — The strongest of the cassias, high in the aromatic oil.
- Cinnamon leaf — Used in Sri Lankan cooking, closer to clove than to the bark.
In the kitchen
Whole quills infuse cleanly into liquid and can be lifted out; ground cinnamon goes gritty in a thin sauce and settles. The choice tracks whether the dish is liquid or a batter.
Cassia does not soften and cannot be eaten as a piece. True cinnamon quills are brittle enough to grind by hand.
Choosing and keeping
Cassia contains coumarin, which is hard on the liver in quantity, and several European authorities have set daily limits on that basis. It matters for people eating cinnamon in spoonfuls rather than pinches — as a supplement, or in very heavily spiced baking. Ceylon cinnamon contains almost none.
Dishes with cinnamon
Sop BuntutClear oxtail soup with vegetables, also fried or grilled
LeshelesheleThin sorghum porridge cooked loose and drunk warm from a bowl
Camel milk chocolatepraline bars made with camel milk, dates and Arabian spices
Jerk chickenChicken in scotch bonnet-allspice marinade, smoked over pimento wood
Kala BhunaBeef fried down with onion and spice until almost black, dense and intense
MithaiFried dough sticks coated in sugar glaze, made for Hindu festivals
DjouziaDense walnut and honey nougat cut into diamonds
Boat NoodlesIntense pork or beef noodle soup enriched with blood, in small bowlsCinnamon is tagged on 814 dishes from 167 countries in the atlas. These notes are written from general knowledge and carry no per-fact citation — see About.