16 November: Cinnamon

Today is National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day. I’ve done Raisins and Bread already, so here are 10 things you might not know about cinnamon.

1. Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of trees from the genus Cinnamomum. The trees are native to India, China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Indonesia, China, Vietnam and Sri Lanka were the top four countries producing it in 2017.
2. There are two distinct types of cinnamon, Cassia and Ceylon. Most of the cinnamon sold in grocery shops is Cassia, which comes from Indonesia and China and is thicker and darker in colour. Ceylon is milder and comes from Sri Lanka, Madagascar and the Seychelles.
3. The chemical which gives cinnamon its distinctive flavour is cinnamaldehyde. It’s a golden Yellow substance which is present in the essential oil of the tree bark.
4. Cinnamon has a long history. It gets a mention in the Bible as an ingredient of the holy oil that Moses used for anointing. The ancient Egyptians used it in mummification and the Greek poet Sappho wrote about it in the seventh century.
5. It was once extremely expensive – up to 15 times more expensive than Silver. It was considered a fitting gift for kings, queens and gods. Part of its mystique came from the tales traders made up about where it came from. It grew in Arabia, and the plants were guarded by winged serpents. Giant birds collected cinnamon sticks to make their nests. It was fished in nets from the source of the Nile at the edge of the world. Pliny the Elder debunked the birds’ nest theory, saying it was no more than a tall tale used an excuse to charge more for the spice.
6. The emperor Nero burned huge amounts of it at his wife’s funeral. The story goes that he accidentally killed her by kicking her in the belly during a row about how much time he spent at the races. He believed that burning loads of this incredibly expensive stuff would atone for his lethal domestic violence.
7. In ancient China, it was used as medicine to treat nausea, period pains and the common cold. Today, we know it is a good source of vitamin K, calcium, iron, vitamin E and Zinc; also that it has natural anti-inflammatory properties. It’s said to be good for the immune system and can help prevent degenerative brain disorders like Alzheimer’s.
8. That said, consuming too much of it is bad for you. Cinnamaldehyde is a throat irritant and consuming large amounts of cinnamon at once can cause skin irritations or swelling of the mouth and gums. The “cinnamon challenge” in which people would film themselves eating a teaspoon of cinnamon powder was dangerous for this reason, and also because there was a tendency to inhale the fine powder.
9. You can buy cinnamon as powder, but also as sticks, or quills. Quills last longer. In Sri Lanka, they grade cinnamon quills according to thickness. Alba is the thinnest (under 6mm), followed by Continental, Mexican and Hamburg (up to 32mm).
10. Cinnamon oil has several uses other than adding it to food and drinks. It’s toxic to Mosquito larvae and therefore makes a natural insecticide. It can also be mixed with Honey or conditioner to make a natural hair dye, which lightens the hair when it is exposed to sunlight.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book