Cinnamon

“ It is known that Hippocrates used cinnamon medicinally and the modern medical world has but recently made the discovery that oil of cinnamon is a valuable antiseptic and germicide. Not until 1506 was cinnamon discovered wild in Ceylon and not until 1770 was it improved by cultivation. The tree grows to a height of twenty and occasionally thirty feet, although, as the bark from the young shoots is of finer flavor, that only is used. Cinnamon shrubs are cultivated in fields, the finest being located in the region of Colombo, Ceylon. ”

“ Ernest.—And the mastich, father?
Father.—This production comes from a tree of the same name; it oozes out in drops and hardens in the sun, something like amber. It is used in perfumes, and as a varnish for porcelain, being soluble in spirits of wine. As to cinnamon, I can only tell you that the best sort is a production of the island of Ceylon; it is gathered from young plants; the outside covering being first taken away, the next coat is the perfect cinnamon, and its smell is quite delicious; it is put to dry in the sun, and it rolls of itself into the shapes in which you must have seen it ”

“ Cinnamon is much used as a condiment for its pleasant flavor, and its astringent properties are of medicinal value. It is cultivated largely in Ceylon. The cinnamon tree is too tender to become of commercial importance in the United States. Isolated plants may be found in southern Florida, at least it is so stated, but the area suited to its growth must be very limited.
120. Cissampelos pareira.—The velvet plant of tropical countries. The root furnishes the Pareira brava of druggists, which is used in medicine. ”

“ For some years past cinnamon has been cultivated with success in several parts of the New Continent; and a zone that produces the coumarouna, the vanilla, the pucheri, the pine-apple, the pimento, the balsam of tolu, the Myroxylon peruvianum, the croton, the citroma, the pejoa, the incienso of the Silla of Caracas, the quereme, the pancratium, and so many majestic liliaceous plants, cannot be considered as destitute of aromatics. Besides, a dry air favours the development of the aromatic or exciting properties, only in certain species of plants. ”

“ Cinnamon renders good service in therapeutics as a stimulant of the digestive tract and a heart tonic. In the atonic diarrhœas so common in the Philippines a tincture of cinnamon in doses of 8–10 grams a day, or the powder in cases where alcohol was contraindicated, have given me unhoped-for results. ”

“ It is unlikely that the original inhabitants of this country knew anything of cinnamon until they had heard of its commercial value from the natives of India or Arabs, who have been known to the coastal people from the earliest times. These same traders, if they penetrated into the interior at all, which is extremely doubtful, would have hunted for anything of any commercial value, and if cinnamon had existed they would have continued to export it up to the present day as they do frankincense, myrrh and gum arabic. ”

“ Adulteration—Cassia lignea being much cheaper than cinnamon, is very commonly substituted for it. So long as the bark is entire, there is no difficulty in its recognition, but if it should have been reduced to powder, the case is widely different. We have found the following tests of some service, when the spice to be examined is in powder:—Make a decoction of powdered cinnamon of known genuineness; and one of similar strength of the suspected powder. When cool and strained, test a fluid ounce of each with one or two drops of tincture of iodine. ”

“ Boil the cinnamon in the milk. Stir the corn-starch and flour smooth in a little cold milk or water, and add to the milk. Beat the yolks light with the sugar, and add. Take from the fire; take out the cinnamon, and stir in the butter and vanilla, and pour out on a buttered tin or dish, letting it be about half an inch thick. When cold and stiff, cut into pieces about three inches long and two wide. Dip carefully in sifted cracker-crumbs; then in a beaten egg, and in crumbs again, and fry like croquettes. Dry in the oven four or five minutes, and serve at once. ”

“ It is estimated that the world’s production of true cinnamon does not exceed 400,000,000 pounds, while an equal amount of cassia is collected chiefly in China and the East Indies. Cinnamon is not an article which enters into the daily food of the masses of the people, and the consumption does not increase with a low price or decrease when the price is high. The present consumption does not equal one pound to each 500 inhabitants of the earth. ”

“ It is impossible to discover the cause or causes by means of which different qualities are produced from the same branch, since the shoots and the same tree are found to yield cinnamon of different qualities. The quality of a cinnamon tree is often determined by the size of the leaves, as well as by tasting the inner bark; the larger the leaf the better bark the tree will afford. The quality of the bark varies very much with local conditions, some being so inferior as to be harvested only for the purpose of adulterations. ”

“ One pint of molasses, one tea-cup full of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter and lard mixed. Spices,—one tablespoonful of good ginger, three of cinnamon, a whole nutmeg, a teaspoonful of cloves. Roll out thin, and bake in a quick oven.
CINNAMON CAKE.
Take one pint of risen dough; work into it one cup full of butter, and two of sugar, one tablespoonful of cinnamon; set it in a dripping pan, and pour over it a little melted butter and some cinnamon; set it to rise, and when light, add more cinnamon, and butter, and bake. Cut them in square cakes. ”

“ Here, and at several other places in the interior, I have seen young trees of a species of cinnamon, kayu manis, or “sweet wood” of the Malays. Its leaves and bark have a considerable aroma, but it is not the true cinnamon of Ceylon, nor that of Cochin China nor China. Cinnamons of one or more species occur also in Java, Borneo, Luzon, and Magindanao. As our carriage needed repairing, and both the inspector [426] and I were becoming fatigued, we therefore rested at this place for a day. ”

“ The plant often grows wild. The roots have some value as food and are also highly spiced, but are seldom eaten. The seeds are used very largely for flavoring bread, especially among the Germans. They are also used in certain varieties of cheese, especially that made in Holland. Often they are found in certain candies and other confections.
Cassia is that variety of cinnamon obtained from other species of cinnamon than Cinnamomum zeylanicum, and is not so highly valued for condimental and other purposes as the true cinnamon. ”

“ Of these, the bird-cherries (like damsons) are made into an excellent preserve by the English residents, who also make capital cherry-brandy of them: the trade in cinnamon is of recent introduction, and is much encouraged by the Inglis family, to whose exertions these people are so greatly indebted; the cinnamon is the peeled bark of a small species of Cinnamomum allied to that of Ceylon, and though inferior in flavour and mucilaginous (like cassia) , finds a ready market at Calcutta. It has been used to adulterate the Ceylon cinnamon ”

“ Chestnut Sauce.—Proceed as in making chestnut soup, using as little liquid as possible, so as to make the sauce thick.
Cinnamon Sauce.—The simplest way of making cinnamon sauce is to sweeten some butter sauce with some white sugar, and then add a few drops of essence of cinnamon. The sauce can be coloured pink with a little cochineal. A little wine is an improvement. The sauce can also be made by breaking up and boiling a stick of cinnamon in some water, and then using the water to make some butter sauce. ”

“ It dissolves abundantly in alcohol, and combines with ammonia into a viscid mass, not decomposed on exposure to air.
When oil of cinnamon is kept for a long time, it deposits a stearessence in large regular colourless or yellow crystals, which may be pulverized, and which melt at a very gentle heat into a colourless liquid, which crystallizes on cooling. It has an odour intermediate between that of cinnamon and vanilla; and a taste at first greasy, but afterwards burning and aromatic. It crackles between the teeth. ”

“ When old cinnamon trees are cut down and burned on their stumps, the roots will later produce a superior quality of cinnamon. Planting of seed is least advantageous as it requires greater attention than other modes, and the trees are longer reaching perfection. As they are planted four to five seeds in a hill, and as they are quite sure to germinate, the plants grow in clusters. Should no rain fall after planting on either the roots or stumps, they must be kept watered every morning and evening until the sprouts shoot out fresh buds. ”

“ This is the more essential as sometimes pulverised cinnamon is distilled with steam to obtain an extract of its ethyl oil, and then the residue, which is of considerably inferior value as regards aroma, sold as genuine cinnamon powder. Such adulteration can neither be demonstrated under the microscope nor chemically, so that it is impossible to protect oneself against them. ”

“ One ought to chuse the smallest Cinnamon, the highest coloured, and of the most biting Taste, as well as sweet and spicy, because a great Part is full of Pieces, from whence they have drawn the Essence, and has neither any Colour nor Taste, but that of the Wood. To help and amend both, there needs only a Clove to be ground in the Mortar, with an Ounce of Cinnamon. This Spice is best that comes from the East-Indies, it has nothing of Acrid in it, and contains an oleous Volatile, which agrees very well with that of Chocolate. ”

“ Oil of cinnamon or cassia depends entirely upon the amount of cinnamyl aldehyde it contains. Oil of the true cinnamon bark (cinnamomum Zeylonicum) is the finest essential oil to be had. It is worth $5 per pound, while common cassia is worth only about seventy cents. True cinnamon oil is obtained in Ceylon and is of a golden color when fresh, with an aromatic odor, and is very pungent, being powerful enough to blister the tongue, but varies by age from cherry to yellow-red, the paler varieties being the most esteemed. ”

“ I had like to have forgot their Cinnamon Trees; there is only one Walk of them, and is the Entrance of the Governor’s Villa; they thrive extreemly well, and the Bark not inferior to our Cinnamon from India; why they and other Spice, in a Soil so proper, receive no farther Cultivation, is, probably, their Suspicion, that so rich a Produce, might make some potent Neighbour take a Fancy to the Island. ”

“ With Cinnamon.—Beat well together in a bowl about an ounce of potato-starch, a teaspoonful of cinnamon, four eggs, four ounces of sugar, and milk enough to make a rather liquid batter. Turn the mixture into a mould, which put into a pan of boiling water for fifteen minutes, then place in the oven till cooked. Serve cold.
Cuite.—Put two ounces of sugar in a tin pan with two eggs, and mix well; then add an ounce of flour, little by little, mixing the while; then, in the same way, add also about a pint of boiled milk; set on the fire, stir continually till it turns rather thick ”

“ Claret Sauce.— Over the fire place a lined saucepan containing 1⁄2 bottle claret, 3 or 4 tablespoonfuls sugar, 1 lemon cut into slices and freed of the pits, a piece of cinnamon and 1 small tablespoonful cornstarch mixed with water or wine; stir constantly until it comes to a boil; then strain and serve. Or boil 1 tablespoonful cornstarch in 11⁄2 cups water, with piece of cinnamon and a few slices of lemon, for a few minutes; then remove from the fire; add 1⁄2 pint claret and sugar to taste. ”

“ The Cinnamon, he says, has pleasant leaves and fair white flowers, which turn into round black berries, the size of an Olive, “out of which is pressed an oile that hath no smell at all untill it be rubbed and chafed between the hands: the trunk or body, with the greater arms or boughs of the tree, are covered with a double or twofold barke, like that of the Corke-tree, the innermost whereof is the true and pleasant Cinnamon, which is taken from this tree and cast upon the ground in the heate of the sun, through whose heate it turneth and foldeth itselfe round together.” ”

“ When the branches are 3 years old they are stripped of their outer bark, the inner bark is dried, causing it to shrivel up and assume the quilt-like form in which it is imported. The best cinnamon is rather light in colour, and not much thicker than paper. ”

“ Recipe for making Ypocras.
Take spices thus, Cinnamon, &c., long Pepper.
Have three basins and three straining-bags to them; hang ’em on a perch.
Let your ginger be well pared, hard, not worm-eaten, (Colombyne is better than Valadyne or Maydelyne) ; your sticks of Cinnamon thin, hot and sweet; Canel is not so good.
Cinnamon is hot and dry, Cardamons are hot and moist.
Take sugar or sugar candy, red wine, graines, ginger, pepper, cinnamon, spice, and turnesole, and put each powder in a bladder by itself. ”

“ What the Ceylon spice-grower wants, is an extended field of operation—a larger class of consumers to take off his cinnamon, and this can only be obtained by bringing it within the means of the great mass of cassia buyers.
Look at the quantity of cinnamon exported by the Dutch in the middle of the eighteenth century. Eight or nine thousand bales a year were exported, and now, after a lapse of a hundred years, Ceylon hardly sends away half that quantity. Yet the consumption of spice must have kept pace with the increased population of countries using it, and so it has. ”