Cinnamom

The name of cinnamon comes of cane, "Pipe", shape which take the "sticks" of bark of cinnamon by drying.
synonyms : Cinnamon of Ceylan
Botanical Name : Cinnamomum zeylanicum, C. verum

Common names :

Europa : English : cinnamon, German : Kanel, Zimt, Echter Zimt, Ceylon-Zimt, Zimtblüte (buds), Spanish:canela, Italian : cannella, Portuguese : Canela, Greek : Kanéla, Dutch : Kaneel, Russian : Koritsa
Africa : Arabic : Qurfa
Asia : Sanskrit : Durusita, Hindi : Darchini, Nagkesar (buds), singalais : Kurundu, srilankais : kurundu, Malay : kayu manis, indonesien : kayu manis, Thai : Op cheuy, Chinese : Jou kuei, Yuk gwai, Japanese : Seiron nikkei

Description :

Bark fermented the cinnamon, devoid of its skin liégeux. The cinnamon is present in the spontaneous state in Sri Lanka, in Burma and in the South of India.
Since the highest antiquity, the cinnamon is a spice used in numerous dishes salted in Asia. It is very early imported in Europe, it perfumes numerous sweet dishes there. Not to confuse it the true cinnamon with the breakage (Cinnamomum cassia) which is more unrefined and does not contain an eugénol.

Historic :

The cinnamon is quoted in the oldest papers (at about 2500 before JC. In the traditional medicine Chinesee, it is used for a long time as strengthening.To Egyptians, it enters the composition of the products which are of use to the embalming. Hieroglyphs of the XVIIth dynasty (1500 before JC) tell that the cinnamon arrived by boat of Somalia in Egypt with the incense and the myrrh. The Greek doctor of the first one century Pedanios Dioscoride, in his treaty "Sur la matière médicale", containing the description of several hundreds of medicinal plants, says :" The cinnamon tones up, activates the digestion, is diuretic, is an antidote and an anti-poison ".
In 65, in a fit of rage, Néron, kills all at once of foot in the stomach his pregnant wife Poppée. Afterward, for her memory, for every birthday of her death, he makes burn all the reserves of cinnamon of Rome. The distribution of the cinnamon remains confidential in Europe until the XIIIth. At that time, its price falls. Qazwini geographer and cosmographe Arabic (1203-1283), described in one of its works the commercial circuits of the cinnamon.
In 1505, Portuguese occupies the Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The business of the cinnamon of Ceylon will enrich the Portuguese storekeepers until 1609, dates in which Dutch takes control of the island.They destroy then systematically overproduction to maintain high prices.
In 1796 English seizes the market and obtain officially the island in 1802 by the treaty of Amiens. At the end of the XVIIIth century, the cinnamon is introduced in Java and in Seychelles.For a long time, and nowadays even, the cinnamon of Sri Lanka stays the most sought.

Historic bibliography :

Geographical dictionary, Qazwini (Zakariya ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud, said Al Qazwini) (1203-1283)
Journeys of mister de Thévenot containing the relation of Indostan, new Mogols and autes peoples and country of India, Jean de Thévenot (1633-1667)
Flora Sinensis, (1656), Father Michel Boym
The Big Dictionary of Cooking, Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)

they're saying…

Hérodote (484 - 425 before JC) tells that the Arabic traders Arabics brings back this story:
Enormous and bloodthirsty birds build their nests on one in vertiginous peaks in the depths of Arabia.They make these nests exclusively with some cinnamon which grows only on these inaccessible cliffs. To get back this cinnamon, the only way which the Arabic storekeepers found consist in launching pieces of meat of monkey so that the insatiable birds pile up them in their nests. At the end of some times, nests, overloaded, collapse. Rash trade collect little of cinnamon fallen at the foot of the cliff, at the risk of their life, because birds, in spite of the feast, stay up…
For love token the Austrians offer themselves small bouquets containing some cinnamon.

Properties :

Stimulating (aldehyde cinnamique) - Astringent - Carminatif - Liqueur - powerful, antifungal, antibacterial Antiseptic - flu-like Anti and against the coolings - Antispasmodic - Aphrodisiac of course!

Composition :

4 à 10% d'essential oils
Phénylpropenoïdes : 50 à 75% d'aldéhyde cinnamique
4 à 10% d'eugénol
safrol, ester of cinnamic acid
3% de terpènes : camphre, pinène, cinéol, phellandrene
The cinnamon: Cinnamon zeylanicum or Cinnamon. verum Family of Lauracées as the laurel. According to the species, the shrub (5 - 7 m) or tree (10 - 15 m) evergreen growing in sandy soil in the hot and wet regions. Its bark is collected in the rainy season, May, - June and October-November in Sri Lanka. The liégeuse layer outside is removed by scratching. There are more than 100 species of cinnamons.