Spice
Cinnamon
Also called ground cinnamon, cassia
The dried inner bark of Cinnamomum trees, sold as quills or powder. Most grocery jars are cassia — louder, redder, cheaper — not true Sri Lankan cinnamon, which is thinner and milder. Neither is mixed spice; a heavy hand tastes like a scented candle.
Origin
True cinnamon from Sri Lanka; cassia from China and Indonesia. The jar in an Australian cupboard is almost always cassia.
Flavour
Sweet-woody, warm, a little heat on cassia. True cinnamon is more floral. Burnt cinnamon on a dry pan turns bitter in seconds.
How it is made
Bark is stripped, scraped, and dried into nested quills, then ground. Powder fades faster than sticks. Cassia quills are thicker.
How to use it
A pinch in moussaka, kibbeh or mole; a stick in a tagine or kabsa, fished out before serving. Pumpkin pie and baklava want enough to perfume, not enough to numb. Bloom ground cinnamon in warm fat. Do not swap it for allspice one-for-one. A teaspoon of powder is not 'a cinnamon stick'.
Storage
Airtight, dark. Sticks keep for years; powder is tired after a year. If a pinch smells of wood without sweetness, buy again.
Recipes using it
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