Cassia; Cassia Stick; Cinnamon; Cinnamon Stick

Cinnamomum cassia is a tree that is closely related to the tree that gives true cinnamon, which is Cinnamomum verum. In both, the flavor is in the bark. It is rolled into cylinders to make cassia sticks (or cinnamon quills). Cassia (thit jabou in Burmese), rather than cinnamon, is widely used in Southeast Asia, and it is often used as a less expensive alternative to cinnamon in North America. Its flavor is hotter and harsher, less perfumed, than that of cinnamon.