Fast Break: Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a key spice for almost any Fall seasonal dish- pumpkin spice pancakes, lattes, sweet potatoes, and cinnamon rolls. It can be used as an air freshener and even as a beauty product. The spice comes from the inside bark of a tree natively found in Sri Lanka, and the stories of the cinnamon trade are just as spicy as the product.
 
Cinnamon was a high priced commodity in the Western countries during the Middle Ages, meant for royals and high nobility. The traders from the East wanted to keep the prices high, so they invented stories on how hard it was to harvest the spice. The best story woven about cinnamon is that it comes from a nest of a giant bird that was too high on a mountain for any human to get to. The humans would have to bait the bird with a giant slab of meat, and when the bird took it to its nest, the weight of the meat would topple the precious nest to the ground.
 
Though this is a very tall tale, cinnamon is actually quite difficult to harvest. As it is the inner bark of a tree, harvesters have to first shave off the outer bark, then carefully shave the cinnamon off. The bark is then dried, resulting in the curled cinnamon sticks we have come to know and love.
 
The spice is now available to the masses, and we love it. It can be used to brighten up any dish, help with digestive issues, and could even help with diabetes, not to mention it can make any room smell like the holidays. We love it so much at Sunny Street Café that we made our very own Cinnamon Butter, which is perfect on our Pumpkin Spice Pancakes!

Anna Hetzel