sca-cooks who pays was: End of the Feast

[Greg Lindahl]

At 7:50 AM -0600 11/4/97, Nancy Wederstrandt wrote:
>>This isn't quite so, in two dimensions.  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.
>There is also a third type of cinnamon  which is white cinnamon or
>Cinamonium alba.  In appearance it is very similiar to zeylonica.
>Zeylonica is much harder to find because for many years that was what was
>harvested.  Now the cassia is the primary harvested cinnamon.  I was very
>lucky to work for an incense maker for a while who had zeylonica in the old
>gathered mode. (This was about 12 years ago) The cinnamon he gave me was at
>least 15 years old, and smelled very strongly and was a very thick density
>rather than the thin paper weight quills you get in cinnamon today.

Ah!  I've been confused about that for some years now.  In recent years
I've noticed the cinnamon quills Ive bought have been quite thin and flaky,
while in precious years I've been used to a very heavy, thick quill.  Is
this actually an indication I've been buying two (or even three) different
types of cinnamon?  Is there an obvious difference, in appearance and
smell, between all these spices, such that one can identify them before
buying, and try to find the different types?  It's not terribly difficult
to do in Sydney (just go to the markets!).

See, I've learnt already!!  (I've also learnt - or remembered - how to cope
with 200 messages a day from one mailing list.  Wow.  Haven't had to do
that for a while!!)

Fyrean ...



                   @>-'--,--        --'--,-<@

I have the simplest tastes.  I am always satisfied with the best.

                                           - Oscar Wilde