Cinnamon Varieties: Cassia, Ceylon, and Others

[liuzhou]

3 hours ago, nochefschoice said:

I think it's mad though to call one cinnamon the true cinnamon, and call the other "not true" cinnamon

 

 

Why mad? It is simple truth. What is sold as cinnamon in much of the world is not cinnamon, a specific species. Therefore 'not true'.

 

They are different species; taste diffferent; smell different; have different monetary value.

 

Edited October 14 by liuzhou (log)

[AAQuesada]

On 10/11/2024 at 11:55 PM, liuzhou said:

 

Why Mexico has such a large appetite for cinnamon, I don't know. But it certainly seems they want the real thing.

When it is used, in Mexican cuisine the flavor is pretty bold and upfront. It would taste very wrong with a different cinnamon!

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, AAQuesada said:

When it is used, in Mexican cuisine the flavor is pretty bold and upfront. It would taste very wrong with a different cinnamon!

 

Yes I get that. The question for me is why is cinnamon so popular.

 

I happily admit I know very little about Mexican cuisine. How is all that cinnamon used?

 

 

[FauxPas]

10 hours ago, liuzhou said:

I happily admit I know very little about Mexican cuisine. How is all that cinnamon used?

 

 

I tried to link to an episode of the PBS show Pati's Mexican Table because she did a whole episode on cinnamon in Mexican cooking, but it doesn't seem to be available anymore. Here's the link to the episode summary. 

 

Cinnamon is used in Mexico in various beverages (coffee!) and in sweet baking but also in more savory applications like meat rubs and moles (sauces). 

https://patijinich.com/cinnamon/

 

You can also find recipes using cinnamon with other well-known Mexican cooks such as Rick Bayless. Here are a couple of savory ones:

 

https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/chile-marinated-pork-oaxacan-style/

https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/oaxacan-black-mole/

 

Edited October 22 by FauxPas (log)

[AAQuesada]

10 hours ago, liuzhou said:

I happily admit I know very little about Mexican cuisine. How is all that cinnamon used?

 

It's used in every facet of cooking from Chocolate drinks to sauces like mole (often in braised dishes), to sweets

 

 

[C. sapidus]

15 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

Yes I get that. The question for me is why is cinnamon so popular.

 

 

One web site states that "Mexico inherited this Ceylon cinnamon tradition from Spain" and that these cinnamon sticks are "imported almost exclusively from the island of Sri Lanka."

 

Cinnamon vogue - Mexican cinnamon sticks

 

I do know that the Latino markets that I frequent offer "canela," which is Ceylon cinnamon. Quite inexpensive, too.