Cinnamon is a sweet warm flavor that is used as a favourite holiday spice, but also used in savory dishes year round. It is one of the oldest known spices that is grown in the bark of a cinnamon tree. It is dried rolled into cinnamon sticks also know as quills. Cinnamon which grows in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam and Egypt can be dried and ground into a powder. This powder is what we know it as a benefit for healthy living.

The characteristic flavor and sweet aroma of cinnamon comes from a compound in the essential oil of the bark called cinnamon-aldehyde.

There are four main varieties of cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon and Ceylon cinnamon are the most favorite. Ceylon cinnamon is sometimes call the “true cinnamon”; which is more expensive and has a sweeter taste. The quills area softer and can be used in a coffee grinder, and is sold in specialty stores. In North America, most stores sell the less expensive variety, Cassia cinnamon. It is a darker colour and the quills are harder. It must be ground professionally, as it is difficult to grind in the coffee grinder.  Read more...