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Sunday, November 13, 2011

McCormick Cinnamon Sticks



These cinnamon sticks are about 6" long. If you buy cinnamon sticks from your local grocery, they'll likely come in 3" lengths, in a much smaller container.

Available at Costco for $5.79/half-pound.

Looking up cinnamon in my copy of Larousse Gastronomique, I found:
A spice obtained from the bark of several tropical trees (cinnamon trees). The bark is removed, dried, and rolled up to make a tube (cannella in Italian), light fawn or dark grey in colour, depending on the species. The most popular varieties of cinnamon are from Sri Lanka and China. Cinnamon gives off a sweet penetrating aroma and has a hot spicy flavour. It can also be found in the form of a powder and an extract. It is one of the oldest spices, mentioned in Sanskrit texts and the Bible and used by the ancients to flavour wine. In the Middle Ages it was widely used in stews, soups, custards, and poultry fricassees. In France it is mainly used in compotes and desserts, and to flavour mulled wine. In eastern Europe and Asia its uses are much more numerous, in patisserie, soups, and meats.
Note that you can also buy cinnamon sticks from your supermercado for very reasonable prices. And today (012112), I found you can buy loose cinnamon sticks at Ralph's in the produce section. I'm not certain how trusty those at Ralph's would be as they are subject to regular misting. But then, it's bark, how bad could it get?

1 comments:

donnaj edwards said...

Great tips, many thanks for sharing. I have printed and will stick on the wall! I like this blog. Rose Harissa