WHAT IS CINNAMON ?

Cinnamon is a very popular , commonly used spice made from the dried bark of  a tree from the laurel family .
The botanical name is Cinnamomum zeylanicum  ( also known as  Cinnamon verum ) which is either ground or rolled up into small curls called quills .
Common names .......Dutch cinnamon , baker`s cinnamon , bastard sugar , Batavia cinnamon , Saigon sugar .
Cinnamon is used to flavour sweet and savoury items .....

The plant is native to Sri Lanka , which still produces some 4/5ths of the world`s premium cinnamon .
Cinnamon is also grown in southern India , Brazil , Malaysia and the Caribbean .

There is also a Cinnamomum cassia , whose botanical name is Cassia .
Cassia is a spice which is the inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree , ( grown in China and the East .)
it has a similar aroma to cinnamon , but it is robust in flavour and slightly deeper in colour .
Cassia is one of the constituents that make up five spice mix .
Cinnamon sugar , is a blend of cinnamon zeylanicum, cinnamon cassia and refined sugar .
The cinnamon and cassia add a warm , woody fragrance to the sugar.

I use HOYT`S spices .......the cinnamon sticks they sell are Cinnamomum  zeylanicum  ( Cinnamon verum )