Cinnamon

DESCRIPTION

Cinnamon comes from the dried, inner bark of the Cinnamomum Verum tree. It has a slight spice with mostly a sweet taste and is a great flavour in baking, curries and drinks. There are different varieties of cinnamon including, Ceylon, Indonesian Cassia, China Cinnamon and Saigon Cinnamon. Cinnamon can be brought in sticks or in a ground compound. Sticks are often used to infuse sauces and ground cinnamon is often sprinkled on top of desserts, mixed with sugar or made into spice mixes.

COMPLIMENTARY FLAVOURS

Cinnamon is used in spice blends including Chinese 5 Spice and Garam Masala to name a couple. The following are some of the spices that go well with cinnamon; anise, turmeric, ginger, cloves, nutmeg cardamom and cumin. Food such as coffee, apples, honey, apricots, bananas, lamb, chocolate and almonds all go nicely with cinnamon also.

WHAT YOU CAN USE IN STEAD OF CINNAMON

There are a couple of substitutes for cinnamon. Allspice, cardamom, ground cloves, nutmeg, ginger and anise.

WHAT TYPE OF FOOD IT’S USED IN

I love adding cinnamon into my baking, especially when I make apple crumble or churros. Cinnamon works really nicely in curries, in hot chocolate, apple sauce and rice puddings.

You may be wondering which type of cinnamon is best for the different food types. Ceylon cinnamon is referred to as true cinnamon. It has notes of citrus and is used most often. It comes from a different tree to Cassia cinnamon.

China Cassia cinnamon is often used in baking. Indonesian Cassia is beautiful with coffee. If you are looking for a more spicy cinnamon, then Saigon cinnamon is for you. Whilst it keeps its’ sweet flavour, it has more of a spice punch.

STORAGE

Cinnamon sticks can keep there flavour from 1-3 years when correctly stored. Keep your cinnamon in a sealed container, away from heat, away from moisture and kept in the dark. A good indicator that has expired when it loses its scent and lacks flavour. The same storage method applies to ground cinnamon also, except it will only keep for about 6 months.

REMEMBER if you are buying ground cinnamon, always double check the packaging to make sure the brand hasn’t used something like flour to stop it from caking and that your packet is actually gluten free.