​If you go to the mountains or in a city in Switzerland and walk into a café with a bakery, you may get a warm drink and, order a zvieri, a snack like Apfelstrudel with cream or vanilla sauce. Or you may take home something from a mountain bakery, like a Birnenbrot, perhaps a Zimtschneken from a regular city bakery, or make Swiss traditional Christmas cookies like Zimtstern, never giving it a second thought. We may associate these with Switzerland but never really realized that one key ingredient which has become traditional food, does not have its roots here but in faraway places. I am referring to Cinnamon. It sits in the spice cupboard of most households in Switzerland and probably Europe but we don't give a second thought about where it comes from, what it actually is or what it does to our bodies. Europeans went in search of spices in the 15th century, which were previously lacking or expensive if they actually managed to get them. This led to colonization of lands, so that the supply of spices became commonplace, as it is today.
 
Cinnamomum has 2 varieties: Cinnamomum verum and Cinnamomum cassia. C. verum means "true cinnamon," which comes from Sri Lanka and is more expensive, as it is rarer. C. cassia or just Cassia is originally from China and has multiple varieties that is now grown in Indonesia, Vietnam and many other South-East Asian countries. Most of the Cinnamon that we get in our stores is actually Cassia, which has a stronger, pungent scent than true Cinnamon and is obviously cheaper, as more countries grow and produce it. If you look at the picture above, you will the see the 2 quills with many thin layers on the right, packed together to create 2 thick quills. This is Cinnamomum verum, true Cinnamon from Sri Lanka. The other 3, which are one thick bark curled to form the quill, are Cinnamomum cassia. In Malaysia, which also grows Cassia, we call Cinnamon Kayu Manis - Sweet Wood. It is often used in curries but seldom in sweet foods.
 
In Chinese Medicine, we use Cassia regularly. In fact, it has many classical formulae In the Chinese Materia Medica with Cassia as a base. In the Shang Han Lun (Treatise on Cold Disease) written in ca. 200 CE by Zhang Zhong Jing, Cassia-based formulae are some of the most important formulae to treat cold conditions. We have 2 forms of Cassia that we use: Guì Zhī, Saigon Cassia Twig and Roù Guì, Saigon Cassia Inner Bark. Both have spicy and sweet flavors, but their temperature differs; the twig is warm and the bark is hot. It makes sense that the younger twigs would be less hot than the inner bark of an older tree. Their organs and functions slightly differ too. Guì Zhī enters the organs of the Heart, Lung and Bladder, while Roù Guì enters the Heart, Kidney, Liver and Spleen. Both will warm and enter the Heart, as such a very important herb in treatment of issues that affect the chest, like chest colds, palpitations or even circulation issues. They can also be used for edema, or swellings in the body, which is often an issue of the lack of circulation of Yang in the body. If you are experiencing any of these themes, talk to your practitioner about using Herbal Medicine.
 
There is a school of thought in Chinese Herbal Medicine called the Fire School. The basic precept of this school of thought is that humans come into the world with a strong Yang capacity, i.e. the capacity to self-heal. As we get older and/ or drain our Life Essence, this capacity to self-heal diminishes. One of the herbs that this school of thought favors in its treatments is Cinnamon, as it is seen as an herb that will replenish the Yang in the body.
 
Cinnamon is one of those underrated herb. We use it in so many dishes and desserts yet we barely give it our attention as a medicine. But we also know that as a spice, if we put too much of it in a dish, it can be unpleasant and even nauseate. As stated in previous blogposts - Food is Medicine. Use Cinnamon sparingly in a dish but use it regularly. Drink the Indian Chai Masala regularly on cold days; it contains Cinnamon and Ginger, as well as other herbs that warm the body. Put a dash of powdered Cinnamon in your oatmeal, or in your apple compote. It brings a little zing into an otherwise plain food, in terms of flavor, but supplements warmth that we are lacking at this present moment in winter.  
 
 
 
 
Image Cinnamon by Elaine

​A few days ago, I looked into a book that was passed on to me and extremely invaluable as I attended university in the 1990s - an English dictionary. Since my last post about Sweet Potatoes and Roots, I have been contemplating this word "Root." So I looked in to find the definition of Root and I find 12 different possibilities as a noun and as a verb. Most of them have something to do with having a "base" or "core" or "source," whether referring to human, plant, language or mathematics, and even to encourage. Fascinating, isn't it? 
 
Many of the Herbal Medicines in the Chinese Materia Medica are Roots. One that particularly stands out is Ginger and is listed in a few different forms. They are fresh Ginger (Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens, 生姜 Shēng Jīang), Ginger peel (Cortex Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens, 生姜皮 Shēng Jīang Pí), dried Ginger (Rhizoma Zingiberis Officinalis, 干姜 Gān Jīang) and quick-fried Ginger (Zingiberis Rhizoma Praeparata, 炮姜Páo Jīang).
 
In its fresh form, just like we get them here in the normal grocery store, Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens, 生姜 Shēng Jīang, is a food-grade herb. As such, one can cook it with other ingredients to enhance the taste of that particular food, like fish, meat or vegetables. In some Asian supermarkets, you may find young ginger, that which is yellowish in color with a green stem protruding out of the rhizome. This form is a little less warming than the older brown version. Herbal decoctions regularly containing multiple Herbs, prescribed by a Chinese medical practitioner, often includes Ginger to harmonize the Herbal Formula combinations; aiding better absorption of the Herbs into the body and to prevent possible toxic side-effects from other potent Herbs. In fact, I have read that Ginger can be used as a remedy for food poisoning, and in fact is cooked with fish in order to neutralize toxins in many traditions. 
 
In the everyday, we can grate it, make an Herbal infusion out of it just by adding hot water and letting it steep for 10 minutes just as a beverage. This can be very helpful too if you had symptoms like chills and/or fever caused by the common cold virus. In fact, making a foot-bath or a whole-body-bath with this infusion till one gets warm and sweaty would also help expel what we call "Wind-Cold Invasion" in Chinese Medicine. If you wanted to enhance the digestive effect of Ginger, then you can throw in a couple of slices of Ginger into a pot with water and cook it for at least 15 minutes. This infusion would be less spicy but more warming for the Stomach, good for stopping nausea and vomiting in pregnancy or otherwise, help relieve bloating and digestive distress. Shēng Jīang enters the Lung, Spleen and Stomach, is spicy and warm. In contrast, Shēng Jīang Pí, Ginger Peel is spicy-cool and is good for edema and promoting urination. 
 
As with anything, too much of a good thing transforms it to a hindrance. If you tend to heat in your system, then too much Ginger will overheat you. A spicy flavor will circulate Qi and too much circulation will dry out the body. Use moderately or speak with your practitioner, if Ginger is appropriate for you. I find that this is one of the many simple Herbal foods that I almost always have at home or with me when I travel. One of our favorite meals is rice with chicken, cooked with Ginger, soya sauce and Sesame oil; a simple but scrumptious recipe passed down to me from my mother. Like so much around the world, people have used food as medicine since time in memorial. It is only us modern urban-dwelling, city-folk, who are often times disconnected from nature, who question the validity of food as being able to affect our health or never really realizing that what we put into our bodies might affect who we are. Just because something doesn't come in a form of a pill, doesn't make it less potent. In fact, it is this that I challenge; something in its purest form, like the Ginger Root, may be the strongest medicine as it is whole. In its wholeness, it helps us to find unity in ourselves, to reconnect us to our source, to our core. 
 
 
 
 
Image Ginger Root by Engin Akyurt on pexels.com