Jer-fah

This comes from the inner bark of trees which belong to the many species of genus cinnamon. Cassia or Chinese cinnamon, native to China but cultivated in India, are the two most common in the UAE. Wild cinnamon trees reach a high of 30 feet, but the cultivated species is kept pruned to shrub height. In turn it produces many slender shoots which are cut and stripped of their bark. The inner bark is the aromatic part and this is separated and dried. During the drying process, it curls up to form rolled quills or sticks. The broken quills are used for ground cinnamon.