The Mysterious History of Cinnamon

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  • čas přidán 30. 09. 2021
  • In this video, we look at the mysterious historical origins of one of the world's favorite spices: Cinnamon.
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    The following music performed by Kevin Macleod Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
    Download available at incompetech.com
    Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro), BWV 1049 [orig. by JS Bach]
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    Picture Attributions can be viewed by everyone here: / history-of-56599388
    Works Cited
    [1] Suriyagoda, Lalith et al. (2021). “Ceylon cinnamon”: Much more than just a spice. Plants, People, Planet. 3. 10.1002/ppp3.10192.
    [2] Yule, Henry. "Cathay and the Way Thither." Cambridge University Press, 2010.
    [3] Pliny the Elder. The Natural History. Translated by John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., and H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Taylor and Francis, 1855. Accessed through the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University,
    www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/...
    [4] Leech, Joe. "Ceylon vs. Cassia - Not All Cinnamon Is Created Equal." Healthline.
    www.healthline.com/nutrition/...
    [5] Fessenden, Marris. "Here’s How Cinnamon is Harvested in Indonesia." Smithsonian Magazine, April 22, 2015. www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-...
    [6] "Cinnamon." Wikpedia, the Free Encyclopedia. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon
    [7] Myspicer. "The History of Cinnamon."
    www.myspicer.com/history-of-c...
    [8] Business Insider. "Why Ceylon Cinnamon is So Expensive." CZcams, Mar 13, 2021.
    • Why Ceylon Cinnamon Is...
    [9] Bocco, Diana. "How Cinnamon Works." HowStuffWorks.
    science.howstuffworks.com/lif...
    [10] Stevenson, Emily. "Cinnamon." Eighteenth-Century Literature, University of Warwick.
    eighteenthcenturylit.pbworks.c...
    [11] "Cinnamon." National Center For Complementary and Integrative Health.
    [12] Ancientfoods. "Evidence of 3,000-Year-Old Cinnamon Trade Found in Israel." Ancient Foods, Wordpress, 21 Aug. 2013.
    [13] Ancientfoods. "Plants and Herbs in Ancient Egypt." Ancient Foods, Wordpress, 16 Dec. 2013
    ancientfoods.wordpress.com/20...
    [14] Rosengarten, Frederic. "The Book of Spices." Livingston Pub. Co, 1969

Komentáře • 1,4K

  • @Fireoflearning
    @Fireoflearning  Před 2 lety +342

    Just want to reiterate I meant to say "cinnamologus", not "cinnamogolus'.

  • @Pandaemoni
    @Pandaemoni Před 2 lety +1914

    He who controls the spice, controls the universe.

    • @MsBlackIris007
      @MsBlackIris007 Před 2 lety +4

      Lol

    • @kannan-sar1758
      @kannan-sar1758 Před 2 lety +21

      2 centuries ago, now it's oil

    • @fredriks5090
      @fredriks5090 Před 2 lety +9

      @@kannan-sar1758 It has always been about cocaine, but Oil and metals are the perfect scapegoat.
      Coke beverages was the second most successful one, and medicinal use being the third.
      Coca is found with the pharaohs because they had secret trade routes with america, which the romans deliberately silenced because they associated it with Carthaginians and their southern-mediterranean kind.
      The spice flows to this day mainly through Portugal into Europe, as it always have, - like in the days of Tartessos.
      Arganthonios (first attested king of iberia) means "port rich with whiteness" mainly referring to silver, but could also refer to this kings more secretive richness;
      "White (nep)TUNES", the power of The Seagod himself, - the fuel that sparked his knowledge to construct Aztlandtunis, the stardust that inspired the first astronomers which themselves so furiously insists on their intellectual heritage from the water-man,- Osiris, Neptune or Poseidon the same.
      "Dwne" means "drowned" in celtoid languages and is probably a loan-word from Atlantis itself.
      The "Dune" franchise is perfectly aware of it's etymological heritage, - because it is simply trying to tell the story censored by Rome.

    • @samsonrene1
      @samsonrene1 Před 2 lety +12

      Exactly why I plan to be a farmer on Mars.

    • @LNVACVAC
      @LNVACVAC Před 2 lety +12

      I can see Gordon Ramsay screaming now.

  • @meucantogames6952
    @meucantogames6952 Před 2 lety +723

    I lived in this big house with a small Cinnamon tree in front of it. The smell is very strong and can spread throughout the entire street. In fact, not only the trunk but the leaves and berries smell strong too

  • @danielovercash1093
    @danielovercash1093 Před 2 lety +1952

    I would absolutely love to see an ancient man's face at the amount of cinnamon I put in a cup of hot chocolate...

    • @slcRN1971
      @slcRN1971 Před 2 lety +116

      To me, cinnamon is one of the very best spices. I make a cinnamon apple pie that continues to get rave reviews by my family and friends. Pumpkin pie also benefits from extra cinnamon too (too many store-bought pumpkin pies have way too much nutmeg in them, yuck). The pumpkin English muffins that I buy, are so much better after I put a generous amount of melted cinnamon butter on them (after they are golden brown from the toaster).
      **Edit, well I looked to see if I am using Ceylon cinnamon..... and it turns out that I am!! I had used a less expensive brand for many years, until I tried a new.... more expensive type just two years ago. Glad that I switched, as it is fantastic.

    • @lemmingscanfly5
      @lemmingscanfly5 Před 2 lety +37

      @@slcRN1971 Yee cinnamon Is good shit.

    • @brianlehmkuhl8162
      @brianlehmkuhl8162 Před 2 lety +141

      You should proclaim out loud "4 years wages" every time you use it.

    • @danielovercash1093
      @danielovercash1093 Před 2 lety +27

      @@brianlehmkuhl8162 ohhhhhh I laughed so hard out loud at that idea

    • @brianlehmkuhl8162
      @brianlehmkuhl8162 Před 2 lety +28

      @@danielovercash1093 lol, make sure to use a royal sounding accent when you say it🤣🤣🤣

  • @willparker9874
    @willparker9874 Před 2 lety +922

    Mummy have cinnamon in them? I guess that makes them a cinnamon roll

  • @Will-sh8kl
    @Will-sh8kl Před 2 lety +171

    I knew a guy who told me that he heard cinnamon reduces blood sugar, so he was eating cinnamon doughnuts to reduce his blood sugar. No joke.

  • @LouisHansell
    @LouisHansell Před 2 lety +53

    Sri Lanka was called Ceylon, and before that, Serendip. European traders considered the sight of the island as an unexpected and fortunate thing, hence our word 'serendipity.

  • @sansivian
    @sansivian Před 2 lety +240

    How the first person came to harvest and consume cinnamon would probably be the story of a lunatic. It’s fascinating how so many ancient things we take for granted have such a crazy history. Great video, very interesting.

    • @8bitorgy
      @8bitorgy Před 2 lety +4

      What a time to be alive that must've been

    • @questioneverything4633
      @questioneverything4633 Před 2 lety +36

      Like who came up with the idea squeezing a cow's nipples and drinking what comes out?

    • @skyton658
      @skyton658 Před 2 lety +20

      You could literally say that to every single food item, maybe except for mother milk? And even then

    • @sansivian
      @sansivian Před 2 lety +21

      @@skyton658 Nah. Most things you see an animal see an animal eat would be obvious. Same with most fruit. But I agree for many things, for sure.

    • @victorhopper6774
      @victorhopper6774 Před 2 lety +2

      @@questioneverything4633 cats

  • @sinjinrancourt3585
    @sinjinrancourt3585 Před 2 lety +92

    What I'm hearing here is ground cinnamon is really just sawdust. Pleasant tasting sawdust. I love it. I enjoyed the video and am excited to watch more!

    • @Delgen1951
      @Delgen1951 Před 2 lety +6

      the problem with ground Cinnamon is that it will lose it flavor due to moisture in the air and the fact that the growned Cinnamon has so much serface exposied to it.

    • @jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491
      @jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491 Před 2 lety

      "cut" ?

    • @tomisugiarto8922
      @tomisugiarto8922 Před 2 lety +6

      That's right, i'm the one who produce cinnamon (cassia) stick, broken grade, and powder
      Cinnamon powder is just sawdust but from the high quality cinnamon long stick

    • @favoritemustard3542
      @favoritemustard3542 Před 2 lety +2

      @@tomisugiarto8922 thanks tomi

    • @tomisugiarto8922
      @tomisugiarto8922 Před 2 lety +1

      @@favoritemustard3542 you're welcome 👌

  • @drinxs505
    @drinxs505 Před 2 lety +215

    Learning about the history of food makes you appreciate it more and it even tastes better when you think of all that hard work that went into it before consuming

    • @mazrimtaim3107
      @mazrimtaim3107 Před 2 lety +2

      I agree

    • @DairangerSentai7
      @DairangerSentai7 Před 2 lety +1

      Nah bruh, I just eat.

    • @eas2252
      @eas2252 Před 2 lety +4

      Imagine eating 200 years ago. No spices or sugar.

    • @smurfiennes
      @smurfiennes Před 2 lety

      Always eating conciously that what you eat is beneficial and medicinal for your health and body.

    • @B5152g
      @B5152g Před 2 lety +5

      This is why I hunt, I appreciate it more and feel guilty if I throw out food that an animal died to allow me to eat.. people don't really think that way when they go to the store and buy meat that they had no knowledge or involvement in how it got there..

  • @MrAnperm
    @MrAnperm Před 2 lety +47

    When I visited Sri Lanka I toured what they called a medicinal garden. In it they had lots of spice plants. It was the first I had even thought about where certain spices came from.
    I saw my first cinnamon tree there. Also the tree that cloves come from, the turmeric plant and many other spices we are familiar with.

  • @Pike737
    @Pike737 Před 2 lety +65

    In India, cardamom is the spice that is mostly used in sweets and associated with sweets/ sweet drinks like cardamom milk, lassi, chai etc.
    Cinnamon is mostly used to spice up savory dishes and stews, kormas, etc. Cardamom is also used for savory dishes.

    • @asdkotable
      @asdkotable Před 2 lety +13

      Interesting. Chinese cuisine uses cassia cinnamon for meat dishes as well! My Chinese mother was very confused when she discovered cinnamon in desserts when she moved to the West.

    • @theknightswhosay
      @theknightswhosay Před 2 lety

      It can be good in a mixture of “savory” spices (I hate the use of savory as opposite of sweet, but anyway), but I don’t like when it’s a prominent taste

    • @AllisterCaine
      @AllisterCaine Před 2 lety +2

      All those "Christmas spices" are typically used in sweets in Europe. In Israel it is like you say too... cardamom and cinnamon goes great with rice and chicken.

    • @zeezee9670
      @zeezee9670 Před rokem +2

      @Ork In the UAE, I discovered Indians (and Pakistanis alike) love some abraisive teeth powders that definitely contains cinnamon & it came in many commercial packages and brands. It would be interesting if any Indians here would shed some light on whether cinnamon is known for medicinal benefits to the mouth or is it just the aroma that mattered, and what other than cinnamon is contained in theses teeth powders.

    • @ammagnolia
      @ammagnolia Před rokem +2

      Yeah man. It's nice being mixed or learning others cultures
      Its good for yam fries with something for heat
      Good in coffee(coffee of the Dead)
      Chicken dishes
      Such a wonderful spice

  • @sammysoppy3361
    @sammysoppy3361 Před 2 lety +264

    imagine meeting someone in the afterlife to learn of their untimely early death and ask what happened and they say “I sold some bootleg cinnamon and they executed me.” lol

    • @Kayenne54
      @Kayenne54 Před 2 lety +9

      And in the next life "I hate the smell of cinnamon"...

    • @matthewkopp2391
      @matthewkopp2391 Před 2 lety +6

      Image meeting a mummy in the afterlife covered in cinnamon.

    • @eas2252
      @eas2252 Před 2 lety +13

      A tween joins the conversation, "I tried the cinnamon challenge. I lost."

    • @muhdzofmadness0245
      @muhdzofmadness0245 Před 2 lety +5

      Imagine how funny it is for ancient people to meet someone who died swallowing a spoonful of cinnamon because of a dumb trend back then

    • @StefanReich
      @StefanReich Před 2 lety +2

      How is it different from "I sold marijuana and they executed me"? Same madness

  • @skellorelli2515
    @skellorelli2515 Před 2 lety +541

    Is it just me, or does the Cinnamogalus sound like the coolest cereal mascot ever?

    • @Ttegegg
      @Ttegegg Před 2 lety +6

      The selling of bark trees

    • @NikeaTiber
      @NikeaTiber Před 2 lety +9

      @@Ttegegg
      When I was a kid there were television advertisements for Cinnamon Life cereal where the announcer said:
      "It's flavored with the bark of trees! We promise your kids will eat it!"

    • @ferrjuan
      @ferrjuan Před 2 lety +9

      Cinnamon Toast Crunch should adapt it as it’s new mascot

    • @davidtatum8682
      @davidtatum8682 Před 2 lety

      It's just you

    • @d0nKsTaH
      @d0nKsTaH Před 2 lety +4

      Damn right!
      I can see it now...
      Come on kids.. listen to the Cinnamogalus! Cinnamon Toast Crunch's new caped crusader!

  • @Goldninja5
    @Goldninja5 Před 2 lety +635

    I only ingest cinnamon in its unparalleled form... toast crunch

    • @timmmahhhh
      @timmmahhhh Před 2 lety +29

      And for the cocoa episode we look forward to your declaration that you go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

    • @Great_Olaf5
      @Great_Olaf5 Před 2 lety +5

      So you don't eat pumpkin pie?

    • @Ttegegg
      @Ttegegg Před 2 lety +2

      Ewww cinnamon

    • @bettyschneider5268
      @bettyschneider5268 Před 2 lety +1

      Lol 😂 🌿🍯🍹

    • @morbidlymeg7393
      @morbidlymeg7393 Před 2 lety +5

      Am I the only one that remembers the fever dream of the twitter guy who said he found shrimp tails in his 😂

  • @freedem41
    @freedem41 Před 2 lety +71

    I have the true cinnamon growing in my yard. Just as folk use the bay leaf in cooking the fresh or dried cinnamon leaves work very well also without cutting down the tree.

  • @Ciubix8513
    @Ciubix8513 Před 2 lety +348

    Wow I never knew cinnamon had such fascinating history

    • @riograndedosulball248
      @riograndedosulball248 Před 2 lety +6

      I imagine what would be their reaction at the humongous Cassia cinnamon tree just outside my house
      The bark is about five centimetres deep, on a tree that is more than a meter in diameter, and 15 meters tall. there should be almost a ton of it on this single tree.
      They would destroy empires over it

    • @swaters5127
      @swaters5127 Před 2 lety +2

      @@riograndedosulball248 Are you Brazilian?

    • @hellion6737
      @hellion6737 Před 2 lety +1

      @@swaters5127 Probably Sri Lankan

    • @MrAnperm
      @MrAnperm Před 2 lety +1

      @@hellion6737 Sri Lanka has the true cinnamon.

  • @carlderfler5006
    @carlderfler5006 Před 2 lety +117

    Dude you have an awsome knack of coming up with extremely interesting subjects that the average man just simply doesn't think about! Cinnamon!!! Yes! Yes! Who would of though had highly interesting aspects to it?!? You are a success at what you've chosen to do with the Fire of learning brand. Bravo sir. Bravo

  • @al145
    @al145 Před 2 lety +130

    I wonder who looked at a tree and was like "I'm gonna scrape that bark and sell it"

    • @16Haverson
      @16Haverson Před 2 lety +54

      I'm assuming someone cut the tree down. Used the wood for whatever and once it dried they noticed the strong smell of the inner tree and someone was brave (or stupid) enough to taste it.

    • @mongtkb
      @mongtkb Před 2 lety +16

      @@16Haverson just like how oyster sauce got discover by overcooked oyster in a pot by a Chinese tea seller 😅

    • @TJDious
      @TJDious Před 2 lety +33

      @@mongtkb never mind that someone once looked at an oyster and thought "mmm... food."

    • @robertharris6092
      @robertharris6092 Před 2 lety +4

      @Fihlippe Luhis you mean sawdust?

    • @goodun2974
      @goodun2974 Před 2 lety +7

      @Fihlippe Luhis store-bought grated Parmesan cheese usually has powdered cellulose ---- sawdust! ---- added to it.

  • @jamesmmw
    @jamesmmw Před 2 lety +139

    As I found from my own reading of Herodatus, the Greco-Romans considered part of India to be inhabited by a form of Ethiopians. Therefore, it's possible they knew the origins of cinnamon then. (book 3.94)

    • @jojobaggett6156
      @jojobaggett6156 Před 2 lety +3

      Greco-romans?

    • @scipio109
      @scipio109 Před 2 lety +19

      @@jojobaggett6156 It’s a way to refer to the classical greek and romans because their literature and architecture forms a cultural unit

    • @shyjus5956
      @shyjus5956 Před 2 lety +6

      The first spice that reached Europe from india was cinnamomum malabatrum its a relative to the cinnamon tree. So I think what you said is right the greeks already had knoeledge about where the cinnamon trees grow.

    • @jamesmmw
      @jamesmmw Před 2 lety +8

      Another supporting indication the Greco-Romans may known cinnamon's origin is they were both within the boundaries of the same empire. The Greeks of Asia Minor, and part of the "Ethiopians" of India were both within the boundaries of the Persian Empire. And, the origin of cinnamon was east into India. Even, the far eastern satrapy next to borders of India included some of these "Ethiopians." (book 3.94) And, Asia Minor and even parts of Greece itself, paid homage to the Persian King. So, trade routes could travel from India to Greece without risking raiders outside the imperial borders. A danger hindrance, and therefore limiting factor, to ancient trade was marauders. There was even an imperial causeway, the "Persian Royal Road", all the way from Asia Minor to at least Susa, the Persian capital. Amber, all the way from the Baltic, found it's way into the borders of the Persian Empire. So, it is conceivable that cinnamon trade was occurring at this time. Trade had developed before to places far beyond imperial borders, and the western tip of India was even a Persian Satrapy. Cinnamon trees might have been growing if not inside the province, just across the borders. A major growing area of cinnamon in India today is just across the borders, along the western coast. Even if they didn't know about the Baltic, they may have known details about trade from this imperial province. The Greeks knew of the look of some people in the this far eastern province, similarly having dark skin like the Ethiopians of Africa. Herodatus records they even knew an exact detail like the yearly tax under King Darius of this province, the 17th Satrapy, was "300 talents." (book 3.94) So, it is possible they knew further details like which trade products arrived from there.

    • @AllHailSp00nRiver
      @AllHailSp00nRiver Před 2 lety +3

      Exactly. He thought, not without reason, that the Nile and the Ganges were ultimately the same river, because people with darker skin than the Greeks, Crocodiles, elephants, tigers and camels were reported to live near-ish.
      Its honestly not a bad inference.

  • @megamanusa5
    @megamanusa5 Před 2 lety +109

    This food series is epic - it really brings the past to life!

  • @tommunyon2874
    @tommunyon2874 Před 2 lety +54

    My childhood home was in ponderosa pine forest. We discovered that the lower layers of bark on the older trees bore a strong resemblance to cinnamon. I was not entirely surprised when I learned in third grade that cinnamon was derived from tree bark.

    • @thedwightguy
      @thedwightguy Před 2 lety +2

      @Jay Dee Natives in north america boiled pine and spruce bark in the winter for vitamins. My grandmother in Minnesota said they're have starved to death if the natives hadn't taught them. If you look at "Bulkelys' Mixture" a Minn. company, the recipe is basically a rip off of an old native medicine except for adding a few spices to make in palatable.

  • @kathleenem9207
    @kathleenem9207 Před 2 lety +49

    Thank you for an excellent history of one of my favorite spices. I began to investigate different cinnamons in the 90’s when I got into baking. There is absolutely a marked difference between Chinese, Vietnamese , and Ceylon cinnamon. The product on grocery store shelves is more robust in flavor and is usually Cassia. If you want a more gentle form, then Vietnamese is good but the most delicate and nuanced flavor is from Ceylon. It’s more expensive but worth the money if you care about the difference. I’ve been purchasing my cinnamon and vanilla, lemon, and orange extracts from Penzey’s Spices here in the US. for decades. All the products are thoroughly marked and you know exactly what the ingredients are. The catalogs explain the purpose and sometimes offer recipes. I’m not connected to this company- just a long time purchaser.

  • @chasehaberman4388
    @chasehaberman4388 Před 2 lety +23

    "Growing and mass producing cinnamon in Europe itself was not feasible."
    *pans over snow covered trees* 🤣😂

  • @egoborder3203
    @egoborder3203 Před 2 lety +50

    I hope you keep this series on food going! With Thanksgiving and christmas coming up you'd have plenty to talk about right off the bat

  • @captainmurphy4720
    @captainmurphy4720 Před 2 lety +189

    Variety is the spice of history videos. Food, countries, supernatural creatures. You could do a video on the history of the sock and I would probably be fascinated by it.

    • @Fireoflearning
      @Fireoflearning  Před 2 lety +74

      I wouldn't put it past myself to one day upload a history of socks. I was reading about pencils the other day.

    • @Kayenne54
      @Kayenne54 Před 2 lety +12

      I'd be extremely interested in the history of the sock.

    • @farmcentralohio
      @farmcentralohio Před 2 lety +8

      @@Fireoflearning Now I'm curious about the history of socks lol

    • @garyphisher7375
      @garyphisher7375 Před 2 lety +7

      @@Kayenne54 They were invented by Socrates - that's how they get their name.

    • @WitnessRAH
      @WitnessRAH Před 2 lety +6

      @@Fireoflearning I’m subbing because of this comment and will be looking forward to your potential video on pencils and socks 😂

  • @radishpineapple74
    @radishpineapple74 Před 2 lety +26

    Do nutmeg next! Nutmeg has a similarly fantastical story. Like cinnamon, its origin was a mystery, but it was held later because the fruit only grew on the tiny Banda islands. Then later, colonization occurs, with the Dutch and English combatting for control of these "Spice Islands". In the Treaty of Breda of 1667, the status quo at the time was recognized, with the Dutch formally gaining control of the island of Run (and thus all the Banda islands, and they also got Suriname) at the same time that the English formally gained control of New Netherland. Thus one can say that the Dutch traded "Manhattan for nutmeg". The nutmeg monopoly was only broken only in the early 19th century.

  • @shamaliwije4872
    @shamaliwije4872 Před 2 lety +33

    As someone from Sri Lanka (former Ceylon), I agree with Pliny the Elder 😄 Would love to meet a Cinnamoglaus

  • @nurmaybooba
    @nurmaybooba Před 2 lety +4

    one of my favorite spices! I m so happy I found your channels!

  • @harukrentz435
    @harukrentz435 Před 2 lety +34

    In Indonesia, Cinnamon is called "Kayu Manis" (Sweet Wood) it is indeed the lesser version of Cylon/Sri Lanka's cinnamon BUT it is more enviromental friendly as you dont need to cut the trees off to harvest it.

    • @ADTillion
      @ADTillion Před 2 lety +1

      In Sri Lanka, there are many cultivars and each has a different process. Even though some are techniques enforced by the British, most traditional methods were inspired by Buddhist practices and thus do not involve cutting down the plant. In fact, it’s very easy for our plants to overgrow between harvests, so have to be trimmed in-between so as to preserve the land. Hardly ever need to replant new ones.

  • @isaacschmitt4803
    @isaacschmitt4803 Před 2 lety +6

    The timing if this popping up in my suggesteds is pretty nice. Last night at Bible study, Casia came up in the selected reading and I was like "hey wait a minute, that's cinnamon!"

  • @sajeewakalamba1796
    @sajeewakalamba1796 Před 2 lety +4

    I am from Sri Lanka. Portuguese have never enslaved Sri Lankans. What they did was, encourage people to grow more cinnamon & some times introduced laws (fines) to increase the production.
    The reason why Portuguese were not able to push Sri Lankans harder was that the central mountains & vast expanse of northern plateau were under Sinhalese kings. Portuguese had only parts of the coastal belt & the Sri Lankan lived in those areas also considered Sinhalese king who was ruling from Sithawaka & Kandy as their king. Every time Portuguese pushed hard, people revolted with the support of Sinhalese kings. They burnt cinnamon storages & slashed cinnamon plantations to ground.
    Therefore, Portuguese were always careful not to push Sri Lankans too much. Repeated attempts by Portuguese to capture Sinhalese kingdom failed handing them heavy losses. In 1559, Portuguese army was defeated in the battle of Mulleriyawa, making the heaviest loss an European army suffered in Asia until the world war II. There 1600, Portuguese soldiers were slain by Prince Tikiri Bandara's (then aged 16 years, later became the king as Rajasinghe I) Sinhalese army.
    All three colonials powers who ruled parts of Sri Lanka (finally British took entire country in 1815) approx. 150 years each from 1505 till 1948, never enslaved Sri Lankans. Every time colonial powers push Sri Lankans harder, they revolted violently. Sri Lankans (Sinhalese) never went to work in plantations (tobacco, tea, rubber) under Dutch or British. That is why they bought south Indian Tamils to Sri Lanka to work as plantation workers. Most of the Sri Lankan Tamils (apart from Jaffna) are descendants of those Tamils brought to Sri Lanka by Dutch & British.

  • @sadfaery
    @sadfaery Před 2 lety +19

    I am from Florida, where we have a subtropical climate. I think I might just try to acquire, plant, and grow a cinnamon tree for myself if it is possible to do so.

    • @russbear31
      @russbear31 Před 2 lety +11

      A few years ago I visited a botanical garden that had a grove of cinnamon trees. It was wonderful! The whole area smelled like a wonderful bakery. 😊

  • @John-db4jh
    @John-db4jh Před 2 lety +48

    I'm lovin' these culinary eps. Delicious stuff.

  • @vickycamarena4697
    @vickycamarena4697 Před 2 lety +17

    I love the Vietnamese cinnamon bark sticks. I have some I got after a visit and I am slowly using it. It's sweet and delicious and you can just chew the bark. So good!

  • @garrett6076
    @garrett6076 Před 2 lety +7

    Both cinnamon and cassia are listed in the Talmud (Kereisos 6a) as ingredients in the Jewish Temple incense. I am grateful to learn more about the history and origin of these weird spices. Thank you!

  • @Hugo-ym7bo
    @Hugo-ym7bo Před 2 lety

    This was wonderful! Great research and very well told

  • @gustavalfzickermann99
    @gustavalfzickermann99 Před 2 lety +42

    The war between the Portuguese and the Dutch lasted around 100 years and was fought on several continents. It was an important chapter in world history, with far reaching consequences.

    • @danshakuimo
      @danshakuimo Před 2 lety +4

      The Dutch went as far as to provide artillery support from their ships for the Tokugawa Shogunate against Catholic rebels

    • @gustavalfzickermann99
      @gustavalfzickermann99 Před 2 lety +1

      @@danshakuimo Very interesting. The Northern Europeans never understood why the Portuguese and the Spanish converted the natives. The Queens made sure that on the ships there were preachers who, as soon as they reached land, baptized the local inhabitants. This made them brothers in Christ and morally impossible to kill them. The rule, even today, is that someone who enters a house uninvited can be killed. The only way to avoid this, is to kill the owners of the house first, before being killed. The great advantage of killing first, is that the property of the land changes hand. This was, basically, what happened in the USA and Australia and failed when the Germans tried to conquer "Lebensraum" in the East. (The Habsburg or the Austria, as they are called in Spain, were different.) If the Dutch helped Tokugawa to get rid of the Catholics, they wanted to retain the option of making war against Japan. A similar situation occurred when Harold Wilson, Willy Brandt and Olaf Palme did everything they could in order to make sure that the white people had to leave Africa. It was a black man, Nelson Mandela, who stopped that nonsense.

    • @himesilva
      @himesilva Před 2 lety +1

      Damn you Holland! lol

    • @marinazagrai1623
      @marinazagrai1623 Před 2 lety +2

      @@himesilva we’d be likely to think they were religious zealots, but no…they fought for great wealth, prestige, power rolled into one.

    • @TriviRocks
      @TriviRocks Před 2 lety +1

      @@marinazagrai1623 into a cinnamon roll ;D

  • @armandopina8529
    @armandopina8529 Před 2 lety +132

    Ceylon Cinnamon Is grown in Mexico but not allowed to be sold in the US as"cinnamon" Mexican Ceylon cinnamon has to be sold as Mexican Canela.

    • @johna.4334
      @johna.4334 Před 2 lety +13

      Interesting. Thanx for sharing.

    • @guydreamr
      @guydreamr Před 2 lety +15

      Can confirm. Just added this to my Amazon grocery list. Terrific tip, thanks!

    • @otroflores91
      @otroflores91 Před 2 lety +12

      I was just wondering why my mom's whole cinnamon looked a lot like "true cinnamon". We live near the border and she buys certain species and things from across the border.

    • @quetzalcueyat
      @quetzalcueyat Před 2 lety +1

      I always wondered what Ceylon was. I thought it was bootleg cinnamon when I first came across it and never would get it. I still prefer true cinnamon though

    • @punjabiuniversitygeteducat71
      @punjabiuniversitygeteducat71 Před 2 lety +8

      wrong it only comes from sri lanka

  • @originalsusser
    @originalsusser Před 2 lety

    Great presentation! I now know everything I will ever need to know about this fascinating spice. 1st class job... thanks

  • @NAH1907
    @NAH1907 Před 2 lety +2

    You sir, deserve more subs for such an informative history. Amazing video

  • @ilari90
    @ilari90 Před 2 lety +3

    I love this series more than you will ever know. Now I can throw this trivia everywhere like a smug I am.

  • @felldin
    @felldin Před 2 lety +8

    Great as usual. It's unfortunate you guys don't post videos more often.

  • @drhowslounge
    @drhowslounge Před 2 lety

    Awesome Info and Pres! Thank you for this!

  • @sophiarokhlin360
    @sophiarokhlin360 Před 8 měsíci +1

    Thanks for this awesome video!

  • @aroshliyanage4578
    @aroshliyanage4578 Před 2 lety +9

    Amazing video, as a Sri Lankan, you've put it very nicely together, thank you

  • @feliciavale4279
    @feliciavale4279 Před 2 lety

    This was really informative, thanks man.

  • @rilyc2843
    @rilyc2843 Před 2 lety

    Awesome video! Keep up the great work.

  • @beware_ofdogg
    @beware_ofdogg Před 2 lety +3

    Never knew how interesting something like the history of cinnamon could be. Great video.

  • @marinazagrai1623
    @marinazagrai1623 Před 2 lety +7

    We can’t imagine not having the spices of East/South Asia…but they way we have been able to get them was a struggle - I was watching this while making a raisin bread in my bread maker. The proof of how i,portant spices are and always were is how Netherland’s revenue dropped when Indonesia struggled to achieve their independence after WWII.

  • @odmcclintic
    @odmcclintic Před 2 lety

    Interesting topic I’ve never thought about before, great video!

  • @greengelacid2061
    @greengelacid2061 Před 2 lety +1

    What an amazing history lesson...learn something new everyday...

  • @jasonparrish8670
    @jasonparrish8670 Před 2 lety +14

    Greek Merchant: where does this incredible spice come from?
    Arabian Merchant: well... from this bird, and all you have to do is leave out your most expensive meat for a month, then follow the bird back to it's nest, and keep feeding it your most expensive meat until the nest falls from the weight of it's own excrement. Then you'll find the nest was really cinnamon all along...
    LMAO! Back when it took creativity and effort to really troll someone.

  • @SR-zv5ue
    @SR-zv5ue Před 2 lety +14

    Would have been nice if you talked about how cinnamon was used and influential from the perspective of the civilizations who actually grew them. If you talked about how early Sri Lankan civilizations used them and how they traded them with the middle eastern civilizations and the ancient Egyptians and kept it a secret and how much the original civilization profited instead of focusing on the already well known civilizations and the Europeans.

  • @MiuMiuKoo
    @MiuMiuKoo Před 2 lety

    Fascinating Thank you I will share this with everybody🥰👍

  • @matthewharris5232
    @matthewharris5232 Před 2 lety +2

    I love this channel cause there is a lot of food I have always wanted to know how they came about. Like how was honey first discovered. Who first realized how to get honey out of a beehive and how was honey initially perceived by people in ancient times. I also find it fascinating how much food was considered either high class or poor people food in ancient times.

  • @nusratparveen82
    @nusratparveen82 Před 2 lety +5

    I’ve been watching u since your video on medieval kings in modern times.

  • @Numba003
    @Numba003 Před 2 lety +43

    Well, I never realized cinnamon was tree bark before this lol. Honestly, that’s probably a wee bit sad on my part 😅. Thank you for the informative video, as always!
    Stay well out there everybody, and God bless you friends. :)

  • @davidstewart5811
    @davidstewart5811 Před 2 lety

    Excellent video and very informative.

  • @lukemckee9772
    @lukemckee9772 Před 2 lety

    Top work on your food series!

  • @patoteto2
    @patoteto2 Před 2 lety +12

    I have a Cinnamon tree in my house and let me tell you, it smells delicious always. Although the smell it’s slightly different than in its dry form

  • @camelloy
    @camelloy Před 2 lety +14

    Very cool, I’d love to see a video discussing the discovery of peppers or tomatoes. New world stuff getting super integrated into Europe and further is super interesting
    Edit: damn this guys a psychic or something

  • @day1avsfan907
    @day1avsfan907 Před 2 lety +1

    That was really interesting, great video

  • @GrouchyOldBear7
    @GrouchyOldBear7 Před 2 lety

    Thanks for the video. I enjoyed it.

  • @bwatentagbansatasubanentri6648

    The cinnamon brought of my tribe SUBANOS indigenous the first people and Zamboanga archipelago in Asia it is mentioned in the expedition meguel lopes de Legaspi trade by the Spanish colonizer!

  • @charlie-obrien
    @charlie-obrien Před 2 lety +6

    When I was attempting to break away from having too much sugar in my diet, i added Ceylon cinnamon to my morning coffee and also to Iced tea, oatmeal and other foods.
    I don't even have a single packet of sugar in the house any longer.

    • @shellinsight1756
      @shellinsight1756 Před rokem +1

      Replacing sugar with cinnamon is exactly what I thought about as soon as saw this video. Is it healthier? - Can you have too much cinnamon?

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před 2 lety

    Excellent history as usual!!!!!

  • @aymarafan7669
    @aymarafan7669 Před 2 lety +2

    I love this series of videos you’re making in Coffee, Pineapples, etc. and how became integral part of our society. It’s very nice historical perspective!
    I understand if you can’t right now or anything but is it possible to enable Persian subtitles on some of your videos? Mostly for History of the United States ones since friend I am in contact with in Afghanistan I think wants to learn more about America and plans to come if able to somehow get evacuated. Thank you! 😊

  • @broepic9472
    @broepic9472 Před 2 lety +6

    I once had a sub in middle school who gave everyone sticks of cinnamon to eat plain and told us that they used to be considered a treat? 😭 I've never got that confirmed but he ate one too and never said he was kidding...

  • @edwardp.shikles7251
    @edwardp.shikles7251 Před 2 lety +5

    Cinnamon has such an interesting story...one of my favorite spices!

  • @elizabethgates8490
    @elizabethgates8490 Před 2 lety

    I love documentaries like this! I love the "black market" tales of spices

  • @Super6ix0ne
    @Super6ix0ne Před 2 lety +1

    Honestly one of my favorite episodes yet this one stood out to me for some reason the journey the cover up such a good story! Great job man keep it up 👍🏻

  • @algonquin91
    @algonquin91 Před 2 lety +12

    Fascinating to contemplate how cinnamon regularly made its way to Egypt 4,000 years ago! It’d be interested to learn about how such far distance trade was conducted back then and what civilizations existed in Sri Lanka and Indonesia four millennia ago!

    • @shyjus5956
      @shyjus5956 Před 2 lety +3

      There are record of indus civilization having ships which used to trade with middle east & mesapatomia.

    • @bakthihapuarachchi3447
      @bakthihapuarachchi3447 Před 2 lety +2

      The interesting thing is Sri Lankan written history only goes so far back as to about 2500 years, and it is widely assumed that prior to that Sri Lanka was inhabited by primitive, uncontacted hunter gatherer people, who wouldn't know anything about cinnamon cultivation or international trade. There is some larger story here, unfortunately hidden by historical obscurity

  • @dawnelder9046
    @dawnelder9046 Před 2 lety +31

    I loved cinnamon toast as a kid. My father was worried by the amount of cinnamon I ate. He should have been worried about the grass products, wheat and sugar instead. I had all the symptoms of gluten intolerance by age 5 and diabetics runs in the family.
    The cinnamon and butter were the only good parts.

    • @alexforex192
      @alexforex192 Před 2 lety +1

      Hi friend. I know you.✌

    • @randyross5630
      @randyross5630 Před 2 lety

      Cinnamon is a Testosterone Inhibitor and Highly Estrogenic... FYI

    • @LTPottenger
      @LTPottenger Před 2 lety

      True. Grains are pretty much poison and not natural to the human diet.

    • @donotneed2250
      @donotneed2250 Před 2 lety +1

      @@randyross5630, but it didn't stop me from reproducing. In other words, if your statement is true I should not be a father then.

    • @ooooneeee
      @ooooneeee Před rokem

      Cassia cinnamon contains more coumarin than ceylon cinnamon. Too much coumarin is toxic to humans. The solution to avoid this is just to switch to ceylon cinnamon instead of eating less cinnamon though.

  • @e4cnf726
    @e4cnf726 Před 2 lety +1

    thank you, i never knew i needed this.

  • @edfky1510
    @edfky1510 Před 2 lety

    Good content dude ! 👍

  • @jackmaddox4960
    @jackmaddox4960 Před 2 lety +2

    At 3:30 in the video the big spicy bird's name is shown on-screen as 'Cinna-MOL-ogus', while the narrator pronounces it 'Cinna-MOG-olus'... Cinnemogolus sounds like some magical creature from the Harry Potter universe, while Cinnamologus sounds like the name of a tech startup that has something to do with baking.... "Syn-E-molygis: for all your virtual toast needs..."

  • @jburtonca
    @jburtonca Před 2 lety +6

    I'm in Canada and I get true cinnamon from a Sri lankan grocery store. True cinnamon is sweeter and more complex in flavor than cassia. I only use the true cinnamon.

  • @MurderMostFowl
    @MurderMostFowl Před 2 lety +2

    Great video! I always assumed that Cassia cinnamon was found much more recently ( perhaps in the 19th century ) as a copycat spice… who knew it’s origin was just as old as true cinnamon!

  • @ReidZer0
    @ReidZer0 Před 2 lety

    Praise the CZcams algorithm. I just saw this recommend and a few minutes in I am sold and ready to binge watch

  • @mistergrandpasbakery9941
    @mistergrandpasbakery9941 Před 2 lety +6

    Excellent video! I'm a baker by trade and can deeply appreciate high quality cinnamon! 😋

  • @0x0404
    @0x0404 Před 2 lety +7

    Cinnamon was still pretty expensive back in the 1800's. Some recipes showed in townsends like the cheap rice pudding used allspice.

  • @kohtas
    @kohtas Před 2 lety +2

    How convenient that this should pop up as I’m eating a cinnamon roll. I’m enjoying it so much more now, thank you!

  • @talmagejones
    @talmagejones Před 2 lety

    Very cool! Thank you for this!

  • @heliopolitan444
    @heliopolitan444 Před 2 lety +7

    In the super market if you go into the Hispanic section you can find Mexican spices in cellophane bags, and the cinnamon they usually have is true cinnamon 😋 it has less heat and citrus notes it's so good

  • @DoctorDex
    @DoctorDex Před 2 lety +5

    Love this vast lore about something we sprinkle on our coffee these days

  • @mmartinezmatavaladez251

    You did such a good job I subscribed to your channel and liked your video🎉

  • @deanlawson6880
    @deanlawson6880 Před 2 lety

    What a fascinating video! It could be said that the pursuit of Cinnamon spice was a great motivator in the exploration and settlement of much of our world!!
    Amazing! What a great video - Thanks for this!!

    • @ninamartin1084
      @ninamartin1084 Před 2 lety

      The world was already 'settled'. Just by other people than europeans.

  • @HSJ1076
    @HSJ1076 Před 2 lety +4

    Cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka, and subspecies like Cassia are native to China and south east Asian countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia, India and was spread through it's spice route inland from Afghanistan to the Middle East and from south India to banks of Egypt..No mystery

  • @yiannisroubos8846
    @yiannisroubos8846 Před 2 lety +25

    Australian here. Kassia is very very rare here. Every supermarket has Ceylon cinnamon. I’ve only seen Kassia once and someone gave it to me. I think they got it from an Asian market.
    Interesting how in the US they use Kassia

    • @HorrorshowEU
      @HorrorshowEU Před 2 lety +7

      Kassia is by far the most prevalent in Europe to my knowledge, atleast in Northern Europe you'd have to actively search to find Ceylon cinnamon. They are very different in flavor, that's for sure.

    • @yiannisroubos8846
      @yiannisroubos8846 Před 2 lety +3

      @@HorrorshowEU I wanna try Kassia now. It seems so exotic 🤣

    • @jak6326
      @jak6326 Před 2 lety +3

      I use both but buy my cassia bark from the Asian supermarket x

    • @cliff8459
      @cliff8459 Před 2 lety +4

      i am from ceylon/sri lanka and i have tasted both cinnamons. But the ceylon cinnamon is mostly exported so they are really expensive even in ceylon! but taste the best. some people sell cassia as ceylon cinnamon, maybe thats why its available in australia @Yiannis Roubus?

    • @yiannisroubos8846
      @yiannisroubos8846 Před 2 lety +4

      @@cliff8459 i looked at the cinnamon in my cupboard and it’s definitely Ceylon. I feel bad for you that we here have a product grown in your country. But we have a similar issue. Beef and lamb are expensive I’m Australia yet we export it all over the world. I had a mate from Saudi Arabia and he said Australian beef is cheaper in Saudi than it is here. So there you go!

  • @1234circle
    @1234circle Před 2 lety

    Thank you this was very interesting.

  • @beanmctriforce8755
    @beanmctriforce8755 Před 2 lety

    At 11:40 the photo you show has got my hometown, Invercargill New Zealand in the bottom right, with Dunedin, the town a couple hours drive away! That threw me but made me smile!

  • @Magos_Fritz
    @Magos_Fritz Před 2 lety +3

    I tried Ceylon cinnamon about 10 years ago for the first time and it was so much better compared to the cheap stuff you usual find here in the u.s. It's more fragrant with a more pleasant tast. I bought about a liter of it and it's still half full.

    • @lahirumadushanka7983
      @lahirumadushanka7983 Před 2 lety

      Dont buy them in bulk. It reduces the quality with time

    • @Magos_Fritz
      @Magos_Fritz Před 2 lety

      @@lahirumadushanka7983 I only bought a single liter container of it. I learned my lesson after, on a whim, decided to buy African ground cocoa beans that came packaged with six cans. Makes for very delicious hot cocoa but I doubt I'll drink that much within my life-time. Not even mentioning that I only have one left. The others were lost or seemingly disappeared over the years

  • @evanrudibaugh8772
    @evanrudibaugh8772 Před 2 lety +9

    Call me old fashioned, but I think spending 4 years wages on sticks collected by mythical birds is totally worth a nice-smelling mummy.

  • @sulas548
    @sulas548 Před 2 lety +2

    FYI the image of a cinnamon tree at 6;34 is not how it is grown commercially for its bark in Sri Lanka. Left to its own devices it becomes a very large tree but the cultivation of cinnamon is done by planting around eight seeds close together in bunches and cutting the entire sapling from its base when it is around 2m or 6' tall and is around 25mm or 1" in diameter, another shoot then grows from the stump.

  • @sagacious03
    @sagacious03 Před 2 lety

    Neat video! "Thanks" for uploading!

  • @bengagnon5452
    @bengagnon5452 Před 2 lety +13

    This man literally only produces gold.

    • @swaters5127
      @swaters5127 Před 2 lety

      Who literally produces gold?

    • @bengagnon5452
      @bengagnon5452 Před 2 lety

      @@swaters5127 Justin, the man behind this chanel.

  • @Binara
    @Binara Před 2 lety +3

    I grew up in Sri Lanka. Cinnamon is widely used there. It isn't easy to process Cinnamon.
    I have to make a correction though. Sri Lanka nor any southern Asians were not slaves at any point*

  • @andrewmoeller1987
    @andrewmoeller1987 Před 2 lety +1

    I never knew I wanted to learn about cinnamon... a good video, thanks.

  • @sjtv6565
    @sjtv6565 Před 2 lety +2

    This is truly an awesome series. I love learning about the history of foods used since ancient times