Weekend food with Darina Allen: Sri Lankan cinnamon
Much of what is sold as cinnamon is an inferior product called cassia which is less expensive but has a much stronger and more acrid flavour.
True cinnamon is native to the lush tropical forests of lovely Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, hence the name Ceylon cinnamon.
On a recent trip there, I wanted to see the process of cinnamon production for myself so I visited Mirissa Hills.
The cinnamon is still harvested and peeled in the same time-honoured way by the skilled Salagama caste.
The cinnamon peelers go early to the fields in the morning to harvest the cinnamon. They choose twigs about 5ft long and about 1½ inches thick. Any shoots or leaves are trimmed with a sharp curved machete. The peelers sit cross-legged on hessian sacks on the floor with their bundle of sticks by their sides. They need just three tools, a curved peeler, a brass rod and a small sharp knife called a kokaththa.
When he (the peelers are all male) has several layers of precious inner bark, he carefully layers them inside each other, overlapping them to create a 4ft quill.
These were carefully laid on strings of coconut coir hanging beneath the tin roof — it will take eight days, away from sunlight, to curl and dry. Then they will be rolled tightly, and allowed to dry for a further 10 days. The quills are then tied into large bundles to sell at market where they will be precisely cut into the cinnamon sticks we know.
So how can you judge? True Ceylon cinnamon is pale tan in colour, softer in texture, with a sweet citrus flavour. Cassia has a harder bark that is much more difficult to grind. Ground cinnamon is invariably ‘cut’ with cassia so is darker in colour and stronger and more acrid in taste.
One of the most impressive health benefits of cinnamon is its ability to improve blood sugar control. Just half a teaspoon a day can significantly reduce blood sugar levels, triglycerides, LDL (bad cholesterol) and total cholesterol levels in people with type 2 diabetes — but make sure it’s real cinnamon.
Serves 6
This is a deliciously rich and unctuous dish from A Year in my Kitchen by Skye Gyngell. She likes to serve it with braised lentils, but it is also very good with lightly cooked Asian greens, such as pak choi.
2kg piece belly of pork (organic, free-range)
2 cinnamon sticks
3 star anise
1 tsp cloves
1 red chilli
3cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled
6 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsp chopped coriander, roots and stems
100ml tamari (or soy sauce)
75ml maple syrup
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp sunflower oil
To serve: Braised lentils
Put the pork belly into a large cooking pot (or pan) in which it fits quite snugly and add cold water to cover. Bring to the boil, then immediately turn off the heat and remove the pork from the pan. Drain off the water and rinse out the pan.
One-third fill the pan with cold water and place over a medium heat. Add the pork, this time along with the spices, chilli, ginger, garlic and chopped coriander roots and stems. If there isn’t enough liquid to cover the meat, add some more water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer very gently for 1½ hours until the meat is cooked and very tender. If you have the rib end, the meat will have shrunk back to expose the tips of the bones. With a pair of tongs, carefully remove the meat from the pan and set aside.
Turn the heat up under the pan to high and add the tamari and maple syrup. (If you don’t want the sauce to taste ‘hot’, remove the ginger and chilli at this point.) Let the liquid bubble until reduced by half, this will take about 20 minutes. As the sauce reduces, the flavours will become very intense, forming, a rich, dark sauce.
In the meantime, slice the pork belly into individual servings – one rib should be enough per person. Season the ribs with a little salt and pepper. Place a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat and add the oil. Heat until the pan is starting to smoke, then add the pork ribs and brown well on both sides until crunchy and golden brown on the surface. Strain the reduced liquor.
To serve, lay a rib on each warm plate (or soup plate) and spoon over the reduced sauce and warm braised lentils. Serve at once.
Serves 4
4 free range eggs
175ml (4flozs) whole milk
1 teaspoon of freshly ground cinnamon
4 slices white bread
4 tablespoons clarified butter
sesame seeds
honey
Whisk the eggs, milk and cinnamon together until well blended. Strain the mixture into a shallow bowl in which you can easily soak the bread. Dip both sides of each slice of bread in the egg mixture. Melt 2 tablespoons of the clarified butter in a frying pan. Fry the bread over a medium heat until very lightly browned, turning once. Serve warm sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. Drizzle with honey and serve.
Serves 6-8
Try this rich good gutsy beef stew, made with shin of beef, from one of my favourite London gastro pubs, the Eagle in Farringdon Road.
100g (4oz) streaky bacon, chopped
100g (4oz) salt pork fat, washed and chopped (this would be sold as lardo salato in Italian grocers. Alternatively use all streaky bacon).
1.5kg (3¼ lb) shin of beef cut into 3cm (1¼ inch) cubes
½ glass of red wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
10 shallots or baby onions peeled but left whole with the root intact (you may find it easier to peel them if they are soaked in cold water first)
5 fat garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
1 tablespoon tomato purée
a handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped, plus extra to garnish
2 fresh bay leaves
a large sprig of thyme
2 strips of orange peel
2 cinnamon sticks
2 glasses of strong red wine water or beef stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Slowly melt the streaky bacon and pork fat in a wide, heavy casserole. Take the bacon out and put it in a warm bowl. Brown the beef in the pan — in batches if necessary — then add it to the bacon in the bowl.
Pour the red wine vinegar into the hot pan and stir to deglaze, letting it bubble until slightly reduced. Pour it over the meat. Heat some olive oil in the pan, add the shallots and garlic cloves with some salt and a generous amount of black pepper and fry for a few minutes over a moderate heat. Stir in the tomato purée and chopped parsley and cook for a minute longer, then return the meat to the pan with any resulting juices.
Make a bouquet of the bay, thyme and orange peel and bury it in the pot with the cinnamon sticks. Heat the red wine, then pour it over the meat and add enough water or stock to bring the level of the liquid to no more than an inch below the surface of the meat. Cover the meat with an inner lid made of foil and then a close-fitting pan lid. Turn the heat to very low or place in a slow oven (150C/Gas Mark 2). It will take around 3 hours to cook, but I would cook it for 2 hours one day, refrigerate it and then finish it the next.
Remove any congealed fat, re-heat gently on the top of the stove. Garnish with lots of roughly chopped parsley and serve with a big bowl of mash.
Serves 6
Serve this delicious ice-cream with an apple tart or a compote of pears.
½ cinnamon stick (1- 1½in (2½- 4cms) in length)
8 fl ozs (225ml) milk
8 fl ozs (225ml) cream
5 egg yolks
4ozs (110g) sugar
Grind the cinnamon stick coarsely in a coffee grinder. Put the milk in a saucepan, add the ground cinnamon, bring slowly to scalding point, add the cream then allow to cool. Leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes.
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until white and fluffy, then whisk in the warm infusion. Pour back into the saucepan and cook over a gentle heat stirring all the time until the mixture just coats the back of a spoon.
Sieve it, then cool quickly and freeze in an ice-cream maker or sorbetiere, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Alternatively pour in a plastic box, cover and put into the freezer, whisk once or twice during freezing.
The 6th West Waterford Festival of Food takes place from Thursday to Sunday, April 11 to 14. There’s a packed programme of free and ticketed events, some held indoors while many unfold in the great outdoors. Marie Power ‘The Sea Gardener’ will host seaweed seminars on Clonea Beach, while botanist Paul Green will lead ‘crude food’ trails in Colligan Woods. There’s a ‘Raw Food Revolution’ going on too with nutritionists, chefs and food entrepreneurs demonstrating the huge value and great taste of raw foods. Children get to do cookery classes alongside their parents and mini-buses take festival-goers on tour to visit local producers, bakers, brewers, juice and cheese makers. The legendary nose to tail UK chef Fergus Henderson will be at The Tannery on Friday, April 12, while on stage in Dungarvan’s town hall theatre to cook their favourite dishes will be Ross Lewis, Rachel Allen and Garrett Byrne. www.westwaterfordfestivaloffood.com
The Intensive 12-week certificate course at the Ballymaloe Cookery School begins on April 22 — see www.cookingisfun.ie
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