Spice Trip

Cinnamon - Kerala

Stevie and Emma visit the southern Indian state of Kerala, where many families grow cinnamon trees in their gardens and use the spice with fish, fruit, curries, and as an offering to the Hindu gods. It is also a key spice in the ancient Ayurvedic system of medicine. Stevie cooks prawn and cinnamon stir-fry. Stevie and Emma join a family of cinnamon peelers and track down one of the region's best home cooks. In Kerala's oldest Auyervedic pharmacy women grind spices with giant pestles and mortars and massive brass vats bubble with potent spice mixes, each infused with cinnamon to help the digestive system. On the menu is braised chicken with preserved lemons; ricotta and cinnamon hotcakes; and a Keralan fish curry.