PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

February 9, 2025

CINNAMON

In Avanelle Day’s and Lillie Stuckey’s The Spice Cook Book you will find the following observation about cinnamon.  “If ever we could collect all the knowledge relating to the history of cinnamon, we would simultaneously know the history of transportation, of caravan routes, of the first ocean voyages, of battles won and lost, and the risks and skullduggery involved in trading as men from the earliest days wandered from place to place.  The Phoenicians, too (the Canaanites of the Old Testament), and the Arabs would become familiar, since these two people for so many centuries, controlled East-West trade (The Spice Cook Book, p.26).”

A part of the story of Cinnamon can be found in the scriptures. There are two kinds of cinnamon: Cinnamomum cassia and Cinnamomum zeylanicum.  Cassia which is native to southern China is the most common in this country.  We find several references to this type in the Bible.  In Exodus it is used in making an anointing oil (Exodus 30:24).  In Psalms we read, “Therefore, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions; your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloe and cassia (Psalm 45: 7b-8a).”  In Ezekiel 27:19 it is listed for sale in the market place.  The Ish’melites to whom Joseph was sold would seem to have been spice merchants on their way to Egypt.  While it is not listed, cinnamon” could well have been one of their wares. (Genesis 37:25-28).

                The Course Guidebook for The Great Courses’ Cooking across the Ages by Professor Ken Alba describes the course as an in-depth, hands-on cooking course that takes one on a culinary tour of the past – from ancient times to the 1980’s.  Cinnamon plays an important part in this tour.  It makes its way into many of Ken’s offerings.

In Lecture 6, Medieval France’s Touch for Sugar and Spice, Alba identifies the variety of places from which the French obtained their spices.  “The recipes were technically challenging—sometimes extraordinarily complicated – and used a wide variety of expensive and exotic ingredients, including the spices called for so heavily in medieval cuisine that were imported from the other side of the earth, such as pepper from India, ginger from China, and cinnamon from Sri Lanka.  These spices changed hands so many times on their way to Europe, from Chinese traders to Arab middlemen to Venetians, that their cost sometimes rose a hundredfold (Cooking across the Ages, Course Guidebook, p. 51).”

It would be interesting to do an in-depth study of the stories behind a typical American meal.  Today, for our main meal Diane and I had sauerkraut and sausage, mashed potatoes, and chocolate pudding.  I have always thought of this as a traditional German meal.  While cabbage is native to Europe, sauerkraut comes from Mongolia.  The Romans introduced cabbage to China where soldiers created sauerkraut.  Mongolian soldiers then introduced sauerkraut to Europeans who modified it to meet their tastes.  The potato goes back to southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia.  The Spanish conquistadors introduced the potato to Europe.  The sausage was Polish.  Different family traditions might well use different sausages.  Then, there were the seasoning.  As we have seen they have their own stories to tell.  Some of them might even have used a little cinnamon!  I wonder how my Grandmother Boyd who was Pennsylvania Dutch might have prepared the meal?

I wonder if anyone has done a course about, say, seven traditional American meals, their stories, traditions, and preparation?  Have you ever heard or read about one?  Let me know at davidh15503@embarqmail.com.