sca-cooks - subtleties

[gypsy1]

Terry Nutter wrote:

>First, while ceylon and cassia are
> not precisely the same, they are closely related (they are the only members
> of the genus Cinamomum, being Cinamomum cassia and Cinamomum zeylonica).
> And the bark of the two is not all that different.

I'm sitting here about four seconds after examining the two; they look
quite different to me. Ditto smell and taste.
 
> Second, in medieval europe, they used both cassia buds and cassia bark, but
> the second far more often than the first.  Indeed, the term "canel", which
> appears to have been used in different times and places for one, the other,
> or both, derives from the Latin meaning "tube", and refers directly to
> the rolled shape that strips of bark assume when removed and dried.

True, "canel" must be assumed to be referring to the bark of whichever
plant is being used. It may be that the two were regarded as
interchangeable by some medieval Europeans, I couldn't say. I was only
trying to convey the fact that whenever cassia is specified by name, it
seems to be the buds that are being referred to.
> 
> Cassia buds seem to have been more commonly used in classical Rome than
> cassia bark.

Cassia buds turn up quite frequently in Le Viandier and The Goodman of
Paris, but then I'm only familiar with translations of these two. I
wasn't aware of cassia in any form being used in  classical Rome; it
certainly doesn't ring a bell from my work with Apicius.

Anything's possible, though... 

> Cheers,
> 
> -- Katerine/Terry

Adamantius