Cinnamon has a very long history of culinary use and commercial
production that dates to ancient Egypt. The spice was considered so
valuable in ancient Rome that the average laborer would toil for about
10 months before earning enough denarii to purchase a pound of cinnamon.
As spice trade wars were waged and new trade routes were opened, the
spice eventually became available to the western world, largely through
the Dutch East India Company.
Today, western cooks are most familiar with cinnamon as a baking spice.
In the Middle East, however, cinnamon is still widely used in sweet and
savory dishes and to flavor various liquors. In Iran, it is blended with
rose water to produce a
curry powder for seasoning soups and stews. In
India and Sri Lanka, cinnamon is combined with
fenugreek,
coriander and
other herbs and spices to make a similar seasoning blend called sambar.
Cinnamon has been beneficial and used in traditional medicine around the world for centuries. One of the most important active ingredients in cinnamon is cinnamaldehyde which may be responsible for some of cinnamon’s possible health benefits. It has been suggested that cinnamon might help with a variety of health conditions such as heart disease, infections, intestinal problems and cholesterol. Cinnamon might also have antioxidant, antibiotic, and anti-inflammatory properties.
