Cinnamon

Cinnamomum verum/zeylanicum
Cinnamomum verum/zeylanicum
Did you know that… ?
  1. …cinnamon is the bark of the tropical cinnamon tree?
  2. …cinnamon has antibiotic properties, cures diabetes and halts the spread of cancer?
  3. …cinnamon is one of the most important substances in Indian ayurvedic medicine and traditional Chinese medicine?
  4. …the Latin name for Ceylonese cinnamon bark is "canella", meaning tube?
  5. …in the 17th-18th centuries, beds of newlyweds had to be perfumed with aloe, myrrh and cinnamon?
  6. …according to the storyteller of the 1001 Arabian nights, cinnamon grows on the bottom of a secret lake?
  7. …besides the bark, cinnamon tree flowers are also utilized as a spice (Cassia buds)?
Cinnamon bark
Recipe

Devil's cinnamon

4 tablespoons ground coffee
6 dl water
2 cinnamon sticks
sugar cube
cognac
whipped cream

Slowly heat cinnamon and water, add ground coffee, remove cinnamon and pour into cups. Heat a spoon over a flame, place sugar cube in spoon pour on cognac and set alight. After flame goes out, place contents of spoon into cup. Repeat for each cup prepared. Decorate with whipped cream.

Story

The origin of cinnamon was long shrouded in mystery in Europe. The spice was known to the Greeks and Romans. Nobody knew, however, what it was or where it came from. The Greeks and Romans thought that giant wild raptors carried it from distant lands in their claws to line their nests and feed their young. Brave Arabs then risked their lives to steal cinnamon from the nests and sell it. This unbelievable fable was spread by Arab merchants. Alexander the Great of Macedonia finally encountered cinnamon trees during his march to India, which spelled the end of the cinnamon myth.