The Mysterious History of Cinnamon

cinnamon from its presence in drinks to foods to desserts to holding a spoonful of it in your mouth for some sort of ungodly entertainment there are so many uses for this alluring spice that it would be a challenge to list them all out but what is cinnamon how is it made where did it come from and how did it become so popular in cuisines around the world believe it or not the story of cinnamon is quite a tale with origins stretching back to very ancient times to an age when its source and production was a mysterious well-kept secret ladies and gentlemen hello and welcome the fire of learning's food history series a series in which we explore the surprisingly amazing origins of the food we eat every day thank you for joining us in today's episode as we look at the origins of cinnamon before we begin i'd like to thank luftmench chloe413 owen bellameric antlers and strup for being my most recent supporters on patreon they join these supporters listed here who helped to make videos like this possible now then let's get to it where does cinnamon come from for millennia this was kept secret from outsiders namely those of the middle east and mediterranean it is first recorded in egypt as far back as 2000 bc though again no one knew where it came from only that it came from somewhere south or east information about cinnamon from pharaonic egypt is a bit vague although it's clear from writing and archaeology that it had a number of uses apart from consumption for example it was used as a medicine and was said to have an ability to aid in things like digestive issues and the treatment of ulcers cinnamon was also an ingredient involved in embalming mummies in fact some egyptologists have commented that the faint smell of cinnamon is still present on certain remains to this day cinnamon was expensive and highly valued in ancient egypt frequently used as an offering to the gods from the pharaohs an example being a record of an offering made by ramses iii in the 12th century bc rulers like hatsept would look for the homeland of cinnamon but would not find it the importance of cinnamon would continue throughout the centuries into the age of ptolemaic egypt in the 4th century bc slightly before this in the 600s bc cinnamon had reached the ancient greeks it also reached the israelites around this time as well as is evidenced by cinnamon's presence in the bible known to the hebrews as kahneman it would have a similar value and similar purposes for these cultures as well for example there is an ancient greek inscription that describes a donation of cinnamon to the god apollo and records of a perfume which included it called megaleon there is evidence that the greeks egyptians and other mediterranean cultures of this time distinguish between the two main types of cinnamon that they encountered these are true cinnamon and cassia cinnamon we now know that these came from two separate locations these locations however still remained unknown to these mediterranean cultures even by this point because of this fantastical tales developed and spread surrounding cinnamon and its origins authors like herodotus and aristotle recorded these tales they tell of a giant bird which lived in arabia known as the cinemogulus the cinemogulus was said to make nests atop cliffs and high trees out of cinnamon sticks acquired from distant lands they claimed that the people of arabia acquired the spice with clever trickery they would leave out a copious amount of meat for the cinemaglasses the birds would fly down to take it and would ultimately take too much the nests would then fall from the excess weight and the men would run to claim the sticks it was also said that cassia grew around marshes and was protected by quote a frightful kind of bat armed with claws and winged serpents as well and quote the romans who sometimes enjoyed cinnamon-flavored wine knew no better than the greeks where the spice came from and so the myths associated with it passed to them from the greeks not everyone was convinced however plenty the elder who lived in the 1st century a.d wrote in his natural history that these were likely just stories that merchants made up to increase prices he was probably right the whole point of keeping its source a secret was the guard of valuable monopoly and it was a trick that worked too according to him about 12 ounces of cinnamon in his day was worth the equivalent of four years worth of wages for the average roman laborer it seems that this price had lowered substantially by the 4th century according to the emperor diocletian's famous edict on maximum prices but it would remain fairly expensive compared to today's standards for centuries to come plenty devotes several pages to the discussion of kinamomo and kasya he tells of how the emperor under whom he lived espazian made offerings of cinnamon to the gods and asserts that while cinnamon and cassia arrive from the arabian sea they do not come from arabia itself he instead asserts that they must come from ethiopia indeed arab merchants also claimed that it came from africa likely to steer explorers in the wrong direction ethiopia was indeed a stop along certain trade routes but not the origin the reality is that cinnamon and cassia originated in southern and southeastern asia the island of sri lanka the teardrop of india historically called ceylon was home to true cinnamon meanwhile the cassia of this age came from southern china as mentioned true ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon which both come from plants of the same genus are a bit different but overall very similar and difficult to distinguish thus even today cassia is just labelled as cinnamon in places like the united states austronesian sailors from modern day indonesia likely played a major role in growing it and in its initial transportation cinnamon is made from the bark of evergreen cinnamon trees once the trees reach an appropriate size they are cut and the outer skin of the bark is peeled off the inner bark is where one gets the cinnamon it is beaten and then carefully stripped off the log these thin rolls of inner bark are then left to dry they are then cut for sale and can be sold in stick form or ground up into a powdery form europeans would not realize these things for some time however and the classical myths and ambiguity surrounding the origin of cinnamon would persist throughout much of the middle ages even by the time of the crusades there are records of medieval scholars claiming that cinnamon was obtained from the waters of the source of the nile with fishing nets like the ancient egyptians medieval europeans would use cinnamon for food for both taste and preservation and also as a medicine for minor ailments like a sore throat in 1292 giovanni de monte corvino an italian missionary wrote of his travels to india and other parts of asia he became the first european to write of the origins of cinnamon writing quote the cinnamon tree is of a medium bulk not very high and in trunk bark and foliage is like the laurel indeed altogether it resembleth the laurel greatly in appearance great store of it is carried forth of the island which is hard by mabar end quote for much of the middle ages the venetians held a strong grip on trade in the mediterranean and thus were a very important middleman in the spice trade which of course included cinnamon however in the 15th century the trade routes of asia became more difficult for europeans to access due to the rising power of the hostile ottoman empire as a result europeans began to seek out alternate routes to asia to acquire the goods of the east among them spices like cinnamon the portuguese succeeded first by going around africa followed by the spanish who sailed west discovering the americas as a consequence as the early modern era began the portuguese colonized sri lanka and other parts of asia enslaving many natives to grow cinnamon meanwhile the spanish colonized the philippines where cassia was grown thus the europeans portugal in particular had gained direct access to cinnamon and became very wealthy for having done so however other european powers would soon take an interest in getting their hands on the spice trade and the money that came with it as well cinnamon trees are of course a tropical and subtropical plant requiring years of warmth and moisture to produce its desired bark as the centuries passed they would be planted in other suitable european colonies but growing and mass producing cinnamon in europe itself was not feasible thus these european powers sought to control the areas where it could be done european domination of south and southeastern asia would follow a pattern similar to the americas the spanish and portuguese would lead the way then the dutch would force their way in the dutch began colonizing ceylon in 1638 and would expel the portuguese totally 20 years later colonizing many parts of the island both powers would retain colonies on other islands of southeastern asia but ceylon had by this point acquired a reputation for producing the very best cinnamon which europeans sought most a reputation which in truth ceylon cinnamon still has the dutch east india company then became a leader in the cinnamon trade naturally the dutch became very protective of their colonies and the highly profitable cinnamon they produced in 1659 they passed a law stating that selling wild jungle cinnamon outside of the mandate of the dutch east india company was punishable by death the dutch even deliberately burned some of their supply to keep prices in europe high it was so important that cinnamon bundles can even be seen on the dutch ceylon colony's coat of arms gradually however britain and france came to dominate european colonial efforts and entered into competition with each other by the early 19th century britain came out on top and would take sri lanka from the dutch in 1796. gradually the british would come to dominate all of india by this point however cassius cinnamon had caught on more in europe furthermore men like the french botanist pierre puav had helped to break the dutch monopoly on spices like cinnamon by smuggling plants from the dutch spice islands in the 1770s the french then began to grow it in places like the caribbean as the 19th century progressed cinnamon would go from a luxury spice of the very wealthy to one increasingly used by the common man it was featured more and more frequently in things like recipe books as the centuries passed as a result until eventually it could be found on the spice racks of most homes in many countries around the world today 99 of the 225 000 tons of cinnamon produced each year is produced by just four countries indonesia leads the way at 87 000 tons followed by vietnam china and sri lanka the way in which cinnamon is produced has remained largely unchanged for the past thousand years today however when you go to your local supermarket you are much more likely to buy a kind of cassia than ceylon cinnamon especially in the united states where chinese cassia is predominant cassia cinnamon is easier and cheaper to produce although scientists state that ceylon cinnamon is actually a bit healthier the belief that cinnamon can be used as a natural medicine for various ailments has continued from ancient egypt up to the modern age today it is sometimes used by individuals suffering from things like diabetes but in truth science has yet to actually prove its benefits in treating these disorders and so there we have it cinnamon a spice of the ancients a spice of myth and legend a spice which helped to shape the course of history for millennia it has been cherished and it will likely continue to be for millennia to come i hope you enjoyed this video if so i invite you to come check out the rest of fire of learning and to subscribe to see more videos like this in the future there will be a new food history series edition every friday from september 17th to october 29th so be sure to stay tuned for that and join us next week as we discuss the origins of tomatoes to help support the cost of production a donation on patreon would be a big help a special thanks to our current patrons once again listed here fire of learning is also on instagram and i also run a science channel much like this called lusidox so come check that out too thank you for watching

Channel: Fire of Learning

Views: 1,085,593

Keywords: Cassia, Ceylon, Spices, Spice trade

Id: GpO1YR5bsyk

Length: 13min 38sec (818 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 01 2021