Introducing "true" cinnamon to Windsor-Essex

Walk into a typical grocery store in Canada and chances are you'll find a spice labelled 'cinnamon.'

According to Charu Chandrasekera however, what most Canadians know and purchase as cinnamon pales in comparison to real thing. She runs a business called The Cinnamon Leaf.

"The [cinnamon] that we get in North America is called cassia cinnamon. It's the cinnamomum cassia plant. There's another [variety] from Indonesia and another one from Vietnam. They're all completely different plants — so their chemical properties and physical properties and everything else is different," she said.

The variety of cinnamon she sells is from Sri Lanka and is known as cinnamomum verum. Verum is Latin for "true" says Chandrasekera. "This is the gold standard of cinnamon," she said.

It is commonly called Sri Lankan or ceylon cinnamon, the latter referring to the former colonial name of the island nation.

How is it different?

All cinnamon comes from the inner bark of a cinnamon tree.

The cassia cinnamon sticks common in Canada are are hard, dark and made of one layer of thick bark. Sri Lankan cinnamon sticks, on the other hand, are lighter in colour, very brittle and made of thin, densely packed layers. In fact, because it's so brittle, you can actually eat chunks of this cinnamon raw.

As for the taste, Sri Lankan cinnamon is sweeter than cassia cinnamon. It's also milder, with a citrus-like quality. Sri Lankan cinnamon can be used anywhere that calls for cassia, though less is used in desserts due to the additional sweetness.

It's also great in savoury dishes. "[In Sri Lanka] we cook with it! Everything — from curries to stews and soups," Chandrasekera said.