{"id":153244,"date":"2025-11-23T16:45:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T23:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=153244"},"modified":"2025-11-23T16:45:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T23:45:41","slug":"the-rich-history-of-cinnamon-from-ceylon-to-cinnabon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2025\/11\/23\/the-rich-history-of-cinnamon-from-ceylon-to-cinnabon\/","title":{"rendered":"The rich history of cinnamon, from Ceylon to Cinnabon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The South China Morning Post<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

STORY<\/strong> <\/a>Bernice Chan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The US chain Cinnabon uses Makara cinnamon from Indonesia for its buns. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Food and Drinks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spice derived from the dried inner bark of evergreen trees, cinnamon\u2019s warmth and versatility shine in sweet and savoury dishes alike<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pastry chef Steve Hodge likes to make cinnamon toast \u2013 a quick snack for his kids at home. He spreads room-temperature butter<\/a> on freshly toasted bread and then sprinkles a mixture of equal parts cinnamon and sugar on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it\u2019s nice and warm, the sugar kind of melts and infuses with the cinnamon. The flavour is unreal,\u201d observes Hodge, the owner of Vancouver-based Temper Chocolate & Pastry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many, the smell of cinnamon evokes the flavours of autumn and winter, including apple pie, pumpkin pie,<\/a> cinnamon rolls, eggnog and mulled wine. Hodge says that\u2019s because the woody spice has a warmth to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Charlie
Charlie Bites from Temper Chocolate & Pastry. Photo: Jimmy Jeong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cinnamon has a lot of great flavours because there\u2019s an earthy, woody taste to it,\u201d he says. If you were to smell or chew on a cinnamon stick, there is a spiced note to it.\u201d He adds that, depending on what ingredients you cook with, cinnamon can enhance the flavours of other spices, contribute a subtle sweetness to spicy food and even provide a hint of acidity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This woody spice comes from the inner bark of trees in the genus Cinnamomum<\/em>. True cinnamon\u201d (Cinnamomum verum<\/em>), or Ceylon cinnamon, comes from Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon. However, most of the world\u2019s cinnamon production \u2013 about 90 per cent \u2013 comes from related species grown in Indonesia, Vietnam and China. Ceylon cinnamon has a lighter, milder and sweeter flavour compared to the stronger, spicier and more pungent taste of other varieties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ceylon
Ceylon cinnamon is also called true cinnamon\u201d. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While cinnamon is commonly used in baking, it is also found in savoury dishes like soups and curries. The spice is added to everything from breakfast cereals to hot chocolate and ice cream. Studies exploring cinnamon\u2019s health benefits suggest it may help support healthy blood pressure, blood sugar and metabolism, and reduce inflammation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in Asia, the spice is synonymous with Chinese five-spice powder, fiery Indonesian and Malaysian rendang, and the festive Korean punch known as sujeonggwa<\/em>. In the West, of course, cinnamon is known for its association with apple pies. When Hodge makes them, he uses Granny Smiths, explaining that the spice balances the apples\u2019 sharp acidity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When combining cinnamon and chocolate, Hodge says sweeter and creamier is better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you add cinnamon to dark chocolate, it\u2019s too overpowering. It becomes dry in your mouth,\u201d he observes. We [use] milk chocolate to bring out the cinnamon flavour but still have a nice balance of sweetness.\u201d He says the spice also works well with white chocolate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cinnamon
Cinnamon pairs well with milk chocolate. Photo: Jimmy Jeong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hodge likes to use cinnamon in his shop\u2019s savoury items too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We make a Cubano sandwich [a roast pork, ham and cheese sandwich] at Temper, and when we cook the pork in the braising liquid, we use lemons, limes and cinnamon sticks,\u201d he explains. The cinnamon gives a nice, earthy note to the pork, and also helps add a little bit of sweetness to the acidity of the lemons. So it has a nice after-note when you eat it \u2013 it\u2019s not overpowering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At home, most people have cinnamon in powder form in their pantry, but Hodge says freshly grated cinnamon sticks have a more pungent flavour. Which you use depends on the recipe. For baked goods, the powder is best, and for soups and stocks, a whole cinnamon stick will suffice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to Indian cuisine, Desi Indian Lounge executive chef Balvant Ajagaonkar says cinnamon is one of the five basic spices in addition to cumin, coriander, turmeric<\/a> and cardamom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chutney,
Chutney, daal, pulao and masala chai \u2013 all incorporating cinnamon \u2013 at Desi Indian Lounge in Vancouver. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When you make basic gravies and curries, you temper or heat the oil and then add spices like cinnamon, green cardamom, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and bay leaves to release the fragrance,\u201d explains the Vancouver-based chef. Cinnamon has a warm and strong flavour, but you need to know how to use it and in what quantity; we use less of it relative to other spices. When we use it in curries like garam masala, we use it in a powder form, but not too much,\u201d he cautions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He says a cinnamon stick is usually roasted in a pan or oven with other spices before they are all ground. In rice dishes, we add cinnamon to biryani rice and pulao,\u201d he says. We first temper the spices with ginger and garlic to release the flavours before adding the rice and water. If you\u2019re using a whole cinnamon stick at the beginning, it releases the flavour slowly. But before we serve the dish, we take out the cinnamon stick because it\u2019s not edible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Masala
Masala chai, like the one served at Desi Indian Lounge, includes cinnamon. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ajagaonkar explains that the spice is also added to chutneys like pineapple and apple, while in desserts cinnamon is in shakarpara<\/em>, a dough that\u2019s baked or deep fried. Other cinnamon-flavoured desserts include cinnamon apple raisin pudding, pistachio and cinnamon lime kulfi, and halva with apple cooked with cinnamon and other spices. Cinnamon sticks are also used to make chai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most Cantonese people, cinnamon is combined with star anise, cardamom and tangerine peels to make lo sui<\/em> or master stock to slowly braise proteins like tofu, goose wings and eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, many Cantonese also have a negative association with cinnamon, as it is used in Chinese medicine. The bitter medicinal taste of such medicines creates a bias that Cinnabon Hong Kong director Steven Yang Tsuen-men is trying to counter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We [Chinese] don\u2019t really have a sweet use of cinnamon like the Western world does,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"One
One batch of Cinnabons has 20 grams of Makara cinnamon from Indonesia. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When he talks to potential customers who immediately dismiss cinnamon, Yang asks about their food preferences to find out where their aversion lies, and most of the time is able to persuade them to try the well-known American brand of cinnamon rolls started in Seattle, Washington, in 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tell them that they don\u2019t like cinnamon because it\u2019s very strong when they [first] smell it. If you take freshly ground cinnamon, it definitely has a very sharp taste. But once you bake it with butter, margarine and frosting and everything, it\u2019s the sweetness that comes out,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cinnamon
Cinnamon also goes well with, or in, coffee. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the Cinnabon founders were developing their recipe, Yang says, they experimented with 100 different types of cinnamon and eventually settled on Makara cinnamon from Indonesia, which has a higher concentration of essential oils, giving it a more pronounced cinnamon flavour. Each tray of half a dozen Cinnabon rolls uses 20 grams of Makara cinnamon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They tried different recipes, but they found that this type of cinnamon has the kind of sweetness and scent that [perfectly complements] the fluffy roll with its frosting,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The South China Morning Post STORY Bernice Chan Food and Drinks A spice derived from the dried inner bark of evergreen trees, cinnamon\u2019s warmth and versatility shine in sweet and savoury dishes alike Pastry chef Steve Hodge likes to make cinnamon toast \u2013 a quick snack for his kids at home. He spreads room-temperature butter on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153244","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=153244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153245,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153244\/revisions\/153245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}