{"id":104829,"date":"2020-07-24T16:18:37","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T23:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=104829"},"modified":"2020-07-24T16:18:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T23:18:37","slug":"brutalised-and-forgotten-sri-lankan-cinnamon-peelers-recognised-in-new-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/07\/24\/brutalised-and-forgotten-sri-lankan-cinnamon-peelers-recognised-in-new-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Brutalised and forgotten Sri Lankan cinnamon peelers recognised in new research"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Larissa Romensky<\/a> and Jo Printz Courtesy ABC News<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"Castlemaine<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dilhani Dissanayake wants everyone to know a cinnamon peeler is actually a person and not a tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key points:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  • Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of a tree and is a spice native to Sri Lanka<\/li>
  • The spice was discovered by the Portuguese in the 16th century and later commercialised by the Dutch<\/li>
  • Cinnamon peelers have performed the labour-intensive task of skilfully peeling the spice, historically under brutal slave-like conditions<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    She has been so passionate about her own cultural history she completed her PhD thesis on the history of the cinnamon peelers in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dr Dissanayake says the popular spice is native to Sri Lanka and is part of the country’s cultural identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “It’s come to represent Sri Lankan culture and its people’s identity,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A person and not a tool<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Dr Dissanayake said cinnamon began being used in Sri Lanka as a traditional Ayurvedic medicine before it was used as a spice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It has been harvested for centuries by peeling the inner bark of several trees of the same species and then processed as quills or powder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dr Dissanayake’s thesis explores this history with a particular emphasis on the often neglected figure of the cinnamon peeler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “No-one talks about the hardships and the sacrifices the peelers made to get that product to market,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “Cinnamon peelers were among the agents who expanded Sri Lankan culture beyond the island’s shores.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    The peelers have been an intrinsic part of the labour-intensive processes for centuries with the skills often passed on between generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"A
    Sri Lankan Ceylon cinnamon is considered the “true” cinnamon.(Supplied: Dilhani Dissanayake)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Dr Dissanayake said on average it took about five to seven years to perfect the skill of peeling cinnamon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “The peeling process is really intensive and relies on local knowledge, expert skills, dexterity and patience,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    During Sri Lanka’s pre and colonial era, peelers were from the lowest Sinhalese Salagama caste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When the country came under Dutch rule in the mid-1600s, after seizing control from the Portuguese, the Dutch took control of the prized spice by commercialising the industry through the creation of plantations and often brutalised workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “They had their ears cut off and were confined in chains and also whipped and branded,” Dr Dissanayake said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Popular spice has lesser known history<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Dr Dissanayake said she was at a Bendigo-based event where local Indian people were speaking about their culinary culture when an Australian friend asked her whether cinnamon was a seed, fruit or flower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “I was shocked to hear my friend knew nothing about it, although it is tasted in many foods, like donuts, cereals and curries,” Dr Dissanayake said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The experience inspired Dr Dissanayake to pursue her PhD at La Trobe University in the history of the cinnamon peelers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Dr
    Dr Dissanayake wrote her PhD on the history of cinnamon peelers.(Supplied: Dilhani Dissanayake)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Dr Dissanayake and her husband first came to Bendigo so she could study a Master of community planning and development seven years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “I really didn’t know anything about Bendigo, we didn’t have any friends here, no relative, and here we were in this strange climate,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “Now I know lots of people and I’m really glad we are here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “To be somewhere where the same people greet us every day, that makes it feel homely.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    World’s largest exporter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas Sri Lanka once monopolised the trade of cinnamon, it has become only the fourth largest producer globally, but has remained the world’s largest exporter of the popular spice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Cinnamon is now grown in many parts of Asia and other tropical climates, with Indonesia now the world’s largest cinnamon producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dr Dissanayake said there were two types of commercial cinnamon; Ceylon cinnamon, which was native to Sri Lanka, and the cheaper cassia cinnamon, primarily produced in Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “Sri Lanka has the true cinnamon,” she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Dr Dissanayake said today workers continue to manually peel cinnamon, despite attempts by government to mechanise the process with machines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By\u00a0Larissa Romensky and Jo Printz Courtesy ABC News Dilhani Dissanayake wants everyone to know a cinnamon peeler is actually a person and not a tool. Key points: Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of a tree and is a spice native to Sri Lanka The spice was discovered by the Portuguese in the 16th century […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104829\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}