Cinnamon is a beloved spice that can make any dessert taste like home. But have you ever stopped to wonder where cinnamon actually comes from? Due to cinnamon’s woody appearance and texture, a tree is probably one of your first guesses. Keep reading to know if you’re right!
Does Cinnamon Come From a Tree?
Yes, cinnamon does come from a tree. Cinnamon is derived from the inner bark of trees belonging to the Cinnamomum genus.
There are multiple species within this genus, but the two most popular ones are Cinnamomum verum (also known as “true cinnamon” or Ceylon cinnamon) and Cinnamomum cassia (known as Cassia or Chinese cinnamon).
These trees are native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, with Indonesia, China, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka being some of the world’s largest producers of cinnamon.
How Is Cinnamon Harvested?
We get it: it’s hard to imagine how cinnamon can come from a tree. Here’s how it happens.
The process of harvesting cinnamon is quite labor-intensive and requires precision. It begins with farmers making careful incisions into the cinnamon tree’s bark.
They then peel away the outer bark, revealing the inner bark, This is the cinnamon layer.
This inner bark is carefully stripped off the tree in thin rolls. These rolls, called quills, are then left to dry naturally.
As they dry, the quills curl up into the familiar cinnamon stick shape we recognize from grocery store shelves. If the cinnamon is to be sold as a ground spice, the dried quills are simply ground into a fine powder.
To learn more about some of the most popular spices from around the world, check out our previous posts, “The Fascinating History of Saffron, the ‘Sunshine Spice’” “Curry: Everything You Need To Know”.
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