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CINNAMON THE IMMORTAL SPICE
The gentle and subtle flavor of Cinnamon causes those who know its story to call it the 'immortal spice'. As we prepare to meet the new millennium in 2000AD, we discover Cinnamon's immortality. The Book of Exodus of 1500 BC gives us a traditional application for anointing preparations:
"Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels"
Long before Emperor Alexander of Greece and Emperor Asoka of India, Cinnamon was known, traded and, used.
Over the years Cinnamon's popularity drew traders into trying to monopolize the market. The attempts to do away with free trade do not date to the island and its growers but to merchant lobbies in cities such as Venice, once called the Serene Republic.
We know that when these early cartels lost their foothold in Venice, the merchants put on new gloves to operate through Spain and Portugal. Thus Queen Isabella of Spain was induced into obtaining a merchants' loan so as to finance Columbus' journey which was originally a search for a route to the spices of the East. Then came the financing of Vasco da Gama's journey around Africa for the same purpose.
It was only at this point that the merchants used Europeans for the first time to restrain free overseas trade and monopolize Cinnamon in the island where it was produced. 3000 years after the scriptural passage mentioned above, a monopoly was established.
The demand for spices like Cinnamon made the merchants wealthy and influential. Yet, this sudden ascendancy was to dislodge them soon from Spain and Portugal too. Merchant capital shifted to put on Dutch gloves first and then British ones. Under the Dutch monopoly in the island, land came to be earmarked for cultivation under the aegis of the Dutch East India Company.
Under the British monopoly, the spice traders, now relocated in London, sold larger and larger volumes to British possessions and to nations such as France, Germany, Portugal, Russia and Spain.
Despite appearances, Cinnamon was one of the products a monopoly of which provided London with a middle man's position primarily in world trade. Thanks to the build up of monopoly profits in that manner, London next became the centre for international finance. Since London's parent merchant firms are now interlinked with New York through subsidiaries, Cinnamon is among products shared with that trading centre.
The true Cinnamon we discuss comes from a tropical evergreen tree which is classified in the laurel family (hauraceae) The spice is the tree bark, rolled into sticks (often called quills) or ground to powder.
Since Cinnamon is easily met with in South Asia, it is not surprising that the cuisines of Sri Lanka and India make substantial use of it. The gentle flavor of the bark is appreciated in boiled rice or tempered pilafs. Yet, the rolled bark or ground powder may also be blended with cardamom, cloves, lemon grass, pepper and other spices and condiments to make side dishes, the curries or kurmas that originated in the region.
Elsewhere in the world, Cinnamon enhances savory stews of gentle components suchaslamborveal. Therefore, besides being a component of Indiangaram masals, curry powder, Cinnamon is a component of Arab baharat and Moroccan r as el hanout, Tunisian galat dagga, Ehiopian berebere and the French mixture quatre epices ( a classical blend of four spices.)
The subtle quality of Cinnamon is esteemed for biscuits, breads, cakes, puddings, confectioneries, fruit preserves, several Mexican mole sauces, homely American apple pie sauce, gherkin and other relishes and pickles. Cinnamon is also used in drinks such as sherbet, punch and mulled wine. Cinnamon sticks are also chosen for hot chocolate and coffee for special flavor. In certain parts of the world Cinnamon is used in. tea.
Besides being a condiment, the oils of the leaves, bark and roots (made through steam distillation) are used in the fragrance industry for blending perfumes. Cinnamon is also used in creating incense. Cinnamon oils find more use in tonics, antiseptics and remedies for intestinal gas, nausea, coughs, colds, and hypertension. In addition, Aromatherapy uses Cinnamon's tonic, stimulant effect on the body for treating rheumatism and also some viral infections in blends with citrus oils, cypress, frankincense, geranium, juniper, lavender, rosemary, caraway, clove, myrtle and nutmeg.
Source - "Cinnamon - the Immortal Spice" (2001) Sri Lanka Export Development Board : Colombo
