cinnamon

The guest cottage was built entirely of bamboo, and reached via a ladder. On the walls hung groupings of artistically-grained pieces of aromatic connamon bark. My guests would invariably come close and give a gentle touch to feel the exquisite grain. This would release a whiff of the most wonderful sweet, tangy cinnamon.

These were large slabs of bark, bigger than a book, thicker than a thumb. None of those prissy little dull dried-up boxed supermarket sticks for my guests!