Cinnamon - good for what ails you

Did you know that cinnamon has some reputation as an aphrodesiac? Well, sort of. They did a study where they gave various fragrances to men to see their reaction, and asked which fragrances "turned them on". Cinnamon won hands down. I am not sure if that qualifies cinnamon for the "aphrodesiac" catagory, but it is an interesting fact! There has to be something to it, though, because in the days of the Dutch East India Company (1600 - 1800) cinnamon was their most profitable spice.

I am not sure which I like better - vanilla or cinnamon. They are both dreamy. The fragrance researchers say the smell of vanilla is calming and reduces stress and anxiety. No wonder I like it. But cinnamon is serene too, and I think of applesauce, pies and cookies. Of the two, cinnamon is definitely a spice with seasonal ties, and it is the smell of Christmas, so it seems like it should be eaten in the cooler weather of fall and winter. Vanilla is more of an all season smell and goes well with summer in the form of vanilla ice cream.

Cinnamon comes from the bark of trees that belong to the same family as Laurel, a common shrub in the US. The variety of cinnamon that the Dutch East India Company brought back to Europe was this one, now called "true cinnamon" by some. This cinnamon is especially noted for its medicinal qualities, and comes from the Zeylanicum cinnamon tree. Zeylanicum cinnamon is more delicate in flavor, and probably isn't the one your mother used when you were a kid to put in applesauce or cinnamon buns. They now cultivate it in the Myanmar, the Seychelles Islands and in Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa, South America, and and the West Indies too.

The "other" cinnamons are actually relatives, but have a different scientific name:
-Loureirii cinnamon, or Indonesian cinnamon
-Cassia cinnamon, called Chinese, Saigon, and Korintje cinnamon.

Cassia cinnamon has a stronger flavor because it has a higher level of oil in it, and is probably what you find in the shakers at Starbucks.

Scientists have now discovered that Cassia cinnamon has small amounts of coumarin, a blood thinning phytochemical, in it. Of course, that started a minor flap about whether it was dangerous or not, but apparently as long as you don't eat it by the handful, you won't get enough to make a difference unless you have some unusual sensitivity. There are quite a few studies out there that show that 1/4 to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon a day (in tea, not dry) can help keep blood sugar stable, but the Ceylon version called "true cinnamon" is the one you want if keeping your blood sugar down is your aim.

The best cinnamon treat I ever ate was in the vicinity of Kyoto, Japan. In the 1600s some really intelligent person invented a cinnamon cookie made of glutinous rice flour and a little sugar and cinnamon. The kind we bought were shaped like roof tiles, and that is what we called them. The bakery was brilliant - they piped the cinnamon exhaust from the ovens out into the street and no one could resist going in to get some. They were sold cooked and as dough, and their base was glutinous rice, not flour. I can remember that they were both outrageously delicious, although the baked ones were really hard, and the soft ones were elastic and squishy. They are called yatsuhashi in Japanese, and I think they are only sold in Kyoto. Such a pity. Some day I will go back and try them again.