You can't get any better than cinnamon rolls, even without the glazing. Originally a German, then a Swedish favorite, the recipe is dated from at least the Middle Ages. In the modern version, yeasted or buttery dough spread with a mixture of cinnamon, sugar & butter is rolled into a log and sliced thickly. Arranged in the baking pan with the filled side up, the cinnamon rolls eventually look like snails (that's why the Germans call them "Zimtschnecken"). But why and how did they become so popular? I think it was the cinnamon.
Perhaps the most widely used spice in the kitchen after pepper, cinnamon has been around for thousands of years. Herodotus believed that, although noone really knew where it originated from, the plant was naturally grown in Arabia, where Dionysus (Bacchus) had spent his early years; that large fowls brought the sticks of cinnamon to heights no man could access, in order to build their nests directly on the rocks by filling the gaps with mud; that people offered the birds meat so they would plunge to catch it, letting the cinnamon sticks fall off the nests: "Τὸ δὲ δὴ κινάμωμον ἔτι τούτων θωμαστότερον συλλέγουσι. ὅκου μὲν γὰρ γίνεται καὶ ἥτις μιν γῆ ἡ τρέφουσα ἐστί, οὐκ ἔχουσι εἰπεῖν, πλὴν ὅτι λόγῳ οἰκότι χρεώμενοι ἐν τοῖσιδε χωρίοισι φασὶ τινὲς αὐτὸ φύεσθαι ἐν τοῖσι ὁ Διόνυσος ἐτράφη· ὄρνιθας δὲ λέγουσι μεγάλας φορέειν ταῦτα τὰ κάρφεα τὰ ἡμεῖς ἀπὸ Φοινίκων μαθόντες κινάμωμον καλέομεν, φορέειν δὲ τὰς ὄρνιθας ἐς νεοσσιὰς προσπεπλασμένας ἐκ πηλοῦ πρὸς ἀποκρήμνοισι ὄρεσι, ἔνθα πρόσβασιν ἀνθρώπῳ οὐδεμίαν εἶναι. πρὸς ὦν δὴ ταῦτα τοὺς Ἀραβίους σοφίζεσθαι τάδε· βοῶν τε καὶ ὄνων τῶν ἀπογινομένων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὑποζυγίων τὰ μέλεα διαταμόντας ὡς μέγιστα κομίζειν ἐς ταῦτα τὰ χωρία, καί σφεα θέντας ἀγχοῦ τῶν νεοσσιέων ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι ἑκὰς αὐτέων· τὰς δὲ ὄρνιθας καταπετομένας τὰ μέλεα τῶν ὑποζυγίων ἀναφορέειν ἐπὶ τὰς νεοσσιάς, τὰς δὲ οὐ δυναμένας ἴσχειν καταῤῥήγνυσθαι ἐπὶ γῆν, τοὺς δὲ ἐπιόντας συλλέγειν. οὕτω μὲν τὸ κινάμωμον συλλεγόμενον ἐκ τούτων ἀπικνέεσθαι ἐς τὰς ἄλλας χώρας". (Ηροδότου Ιστορίαι, Θάλεια, 111)
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| A cinnamon bird - Western France manuscript, ca. 1450 |
The cinnamon imported by Greek and Roman markets via Egypt was actually from southeastern Asia. It was so valuable that princes gave it to other princes to strike alliances or offered it to the gods along with frankinscence, myrrh & cassia (a variety of cinnamon). The Greek name κινάμωμον was borrowed from the Phoenicians and transcribed into Latin. During the Middle Ages, cinnamon trade was in the hands of the Venetians. Then Portugal and Holland took over, controlling the distribution of all spices in the Far East. Towards the end of the 18th century, the Dutch East India Company also began to grow its own cinnamon trees.
In both western and eastern societies, cinnamon was highly valued for its medicinal properties: boosting the immune system, aiding digestion, protecting from stomach ulcers, regulating body temperature and so on. A myriad of recipes were developed around the globe using cinnamon in sweet and salted dishes as well as beverages, including potions for the sick.
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