[HN Gopher] Harvesting 'true cinnamon': The story of the Ceylon ...
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       Harvesting 'true cinnamon': The story of the Ceylon spice
        
       Author : mooreds
       Score  : 82 points
       Date   : 2021-10-23 12:17 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.aljazeera.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.aljazeera.com)
        
       | SavantIdiot wrote:
       | If you want to compare different cinnamons, you can order some
       | from Penzeys [1]. I'm a fan of their Vietnamese:
       | 
       | https://www.penzeys.com/search/?q=cinnamon
        
       | joecool1029 wrote:
       | I've bought ceylon cinnamon numerous times from this spice
       | trader, would recommend:
       | https://www.thespicehouse.com/products/ceylon-cinnamon-quill...
        
       | sorenn111 wrote:
       | The spice must flow
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | mrfusion wrote:
       | Is cinnamon the only tree/wood that we eat?
        
         | nitrogen wrote:
         | Does smoked food count? Or aging in wooden barrels?
        
           | mrfusion wrote:
           | Sorry, I can't count those.
        
         | bombela wrote:
         | What about palm heart?
        
           | jiggawatts wrote:
           | Palm oil, maple syrup, stone fruit, curry leaves, bay leaves,
           | and also the leaves of several obscure south East Asian trees
           | like Gnetum gnemon. .
        
         | smegcicle wrote:
         | Do bamboo shoots count?
         | 
         | we can eat a lot of roots, but not generally wood..
        
       | Negitivefrags wrote:
       | It's worth remembering the other downside of Cassia cinnamon. It
       | causes liver damage in higher doses.
       | 
       | The amount it starts becoming unsafe at is something like 1
       | teaspoon a day, which is a lot, but not _that_ much when I
       | consider how much I might put in an apple crumble or cinnamon bun
       | recipe.
       | 
       | For this reason I always make sure I'm buying Ceylon.
        
         | cinntaile wrote:
         | This article [0] has a pretty good overview of the possible
         | side-effects one can have. The substance toxic to the liver
         | (hepatotoxic) is believed to be coumarin. An article that
         | specifically looks at coumarin in food can be found here. [1]
         | It confirms what the parent comment says. Cassia is also the
         | form commonly used in pastries according to the article.
         | 
         | [0] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2018.03.013
         | 
         | [1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.12.068
        
         | Tomte wrote:
         | Ceylon seems much, much weaker to me. Like I use three times
         | the amount of Ceylon, compared to Cassia, and it still tastes
         | not much like cinnamon.
         | 
         | Is it just because my taste buds have been de-sensitized to
         | cinnamon? Or is the specific brand bad?
         | 
         | Because right now I wouldn't buy Ceylon again (and I bought it
         | specifically because it has less cumarin).
        
           | nate_meurer wrote:
           | They are very different spices. I don't care for cassia. I'll
           | use it, no problem, but I much prefer Ceylon cinnamon. I
           | grind sticks in a coffee grinder (you can't do this with
           | cassia, it's too tough) and the freshly ground stuff is full
           | of woody and citrus notes. Sometimes it smells like a threw
           | in some orange peel, it's that noticeable.
        
           | hn_throwaway_99 wrote:
           | Everything I could find about the difference between the two
           | says that Ceylon cinnamon has a much "milder" and "subtle"
           | flavor than Cassia, and that Cassia tastes much
           | hotter/spicier, so this would seem to be in line with your
           | experience. Ceylon cinnamon essential oil is only 50-65%
           | cinnamaldehyde, while Cassia is about 95% according to an
           | article I read, which explains much of the difference.
        
         | thomasahle wrote:
         | It's been an issue in Denmark for a while that cinnamon buns
         | have too much cinnamon
         | https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/12/da...
        
         | interestica wrote:
         | Well damn. Cinnamon tea is something I've made often -- and I
         | presume it's the equivalent to a lot?
        
         | locallost wrote:
         | How realistic is it really though? One teaspoon is a lot and
         | even if I use it, I will not eat everything myself in one day.
         | I guess the only real issue is with kids. I also don't eat
         | cinnamon every day. Our small package of cinnamon lasts for
         | months, and it's around 10 tea spoons.
        
           | hammock wrote:
           | I could easily use a teaspoon on two bagels with some butter
           | and sugar
        
             | OJFord wrote:
             | The cinnamon is just one reason not to do that daily.
        
             | locallost wrote:
             | To each his own of course. But that's a lot of cinnamon.
        
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       (page generated 2021-10-23 23:01 UTC)