True cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon

Here is a major problem of both terminology and taste. I can’t stress enough that the product sold as “cinnamon” in U.S. markets is not right for Mexican food. It actually comes from the cassia tree (Cinnamomum cassia) and other strong-flavored members of the cinnamon genus that are disdained in Mexico and many European countries as inferior substitutes for real cinnamon. I refuse to cook with this so-called cinnamon except in certain dishes where its sharpness is acceptable. Mexican cooks insist on a spice known as “true cinnamon” or “Ceylon cinnamon,” Cinnamomum zeylanicum, which we call canela. I had always assumed that it came from Mexico, since I had only seen it there. But it turns out that it is grown in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and brought into the United States almost exclusively for re-export to Mexico at a hefty markup! Cooks here are literally unaware of its existence.