Cinnamon is important tree spice of the family Lauraceac. The generic name is derived from the Arabic or Persian mama, via the Greek amomum meaning spice, and the prefix chini to its believed origin.
In ancient times, because of its flavor and its scarcity, cinnamon was worth as much as fifteen times the value of silver.
It is widely used aromatic spice obtained from the dried inner bark of trees belonging to several species of Cinnamomum.
It is used in pulav, biryani, korma and most of the non-vegetarian dishes. Doughnuts may be passed though sugar and ground cinnamon and slices of apples for fritters may be sprinkled with cinnamon before frying. Cinnamon is used for making garam masala powder.
In western cooking, cinnamon was very popular in the 16th to 18th centuries but is now used primarily to flavor desserts such as stewed fruits or spice cakes and rarely used in spicy dishes.
It’s bark oil and leaf oil are used in numerous processed foods and drinks. It is used for domestic culinary flavoring and for industrially manufactured sauces, candy, pickles and some beverages.
Cinnamon as a cooking ingredient
