Cultivating the saffron crocus requires a long-term commitment. It takes three years before the flower can be harvested, and an acre of land yields just a few pounds of spice. This makes it one of the most expensive spices in the world, with 100 grams costing up to $2,000.
If you are ready to pay this price for saffron, who will you choose to buy from? A supermarket? An online retailer? An Indian grocer on your street?
Each of these choices has its own risks. The supermarket, for example, may have purchased their stock from a wholesaler without knowing where the product originally came from. They may slap on a label that reads “Product of Spain,” although their saffron really comes from Iran or Greece. Even if their label is honest, their packaging may not be; some manufacturers mix fillers like breadcrumbs with low-quality saffron to increase profits without raising prices.
The Indian grocer may have received his stock from other middlemen before selling it to you; he might even be selling an inferior product that he claims is authentic saffron. The risks don’t stop there; as soon as you leave the store and carry your purchase home in your pocket or bag,
It is hard to find high quality saffron at a reasonable price. Saffron is one of the most expensive spices in the world, and most of the saffron found in American markets is either synthetic or low quality. But you can buy high quality saffron online and through specialty shops.
Saffron comes from crocus flowers grown in India and Spain. The best Indian saffron is regarded as being higher quality than the best Spanish saffron, but it is also more expensive. You can find Spanish saffron online at many different sources, with prices ranging from $2 to $20 per gram depending on the grade and level of purity. Most Spanish saffron is sold at a standard size of 0.5 grams, which means that the price ranges from $8 to $100 per ounce.
The best Indian saffron comes from Kashmir, where it has been produced for five thousand years. It has long been traded by caravans between India and Iran. Top-grade Kashmiri saffron threads are deep red and have a mild, slightly hay-like aroma. They sell for about $250 per ounce even when purchased from an Indian store in Canada or the United States.
Kashmiri saff
Selecting saffron is an exercise in trust. You have to trust your supplier. You have to trust your senses. And you have to trust the experts, even when they contradict each other.
Saffron is a spice derived from a flower whose three stigmas and styles are dried and sold as threads; the styles and stigmas together are sometimes called threads. The threads are crimson in color, but a lot of products that claim to be saffron actually contain other red-colored spices, or include no saffron at all.
The best way to get high quality saffron is to buy it from a reputable dealer or grow your own, and then be sure you know how to recognize it. Saffron flowers only once a year, so harvesting must be timed carefully; otherwise, insects can pollinate the flowers before the plant is mature enough for harvesting or the flowers can fall off before they have fully matured and developed their essential oils. The stigmas of freshly picked flowers yield more flavor than those that have been dried for some time; with this in mind, growers will harvest their plants early in the morning so as not to damage the flowers while they are still wet with dew. After harvest, fields must be plowed
When most people shop for high-quality goods, they look for expensive brands. But most of the benefit of a brand-name item comes from the company that sells it. Buying an expensive brand is like buying a lottery ticket that gives you a small chance to win the lottery prize, with the same money going to the same company whether or not you win.
The winner-take-all effect can be strong when there are few sellers, as with saffron (as opposed to coffee or personal computers). Saffron is one of the most expensive spices in the world, selling for about $5000 per pound. The harvest yield for each crocus bulb is only about 1/10th of a gram, so it takes around 150,000 crocus flowers to get 1 pound of saffron.
Saffron has been used as a spice and a dye for thousands of years. It is made from the stamens of a flower, which are dried and then steeped in hot water to extract their color. The color is permanent; it does not wash off or fade.
Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice, and also the most labor-intensive to harvest. A pound of saffron requires hand-picking 70,000 to 75,000 flowers—the equivalent of a full-time job for one person for three weeks. It takes about four hours to pick enough saffron strands to make one pound.
The price of saffron fluctuates depending on weather, availability and politics. As recently as 2009, a pound of saffron cost upwards of $100. But in 2013 the price dropped substantially, due to an Indian bumper crop and Chinese stockpiling ahead of the Chinese New Year festival. Though the price has since increased again, the low cost was enough that some restaurants have begun using it in dishes beyond traditional paella and risotto Milanese.
Anywhere you look for saffron ratings, you will find sources that suggest that there is little quality variation between brands—that all saffron comes from the
Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, is derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, a member of the iris family. For millennia it has been cultivated in Asia Minor and Greece; today Spain and Iran are also major producers. The small red stigma must be picked by hand; it takes some 70,000 flowers to produce one pound of saffron.
The flavor and aroma are unique and penetrating — sweet, haylike and bitter — which makes saffron an ingredient in both aromatic and savory dishes.
Saffron is a spice that gives food a distinctive rich, warm and bitter taste. In most of the world it’s harvested from the “threads” of the saffron crocus flower, then dried and sold in powdered form. Kashmir is the main source of saffron in the world. Saffron is popular with chefs and seen as a key ingredient of Spanish paella. In India, saffron is an integral part of religious ceremonies, particularly for Hindus.
Saffron has been used for thousands of years as a dye, medicine and perfume ingredient. It gives a golden hue to textiles and paints and has also been used as a treatment for menstrual problems, colic, colds, fever and stomach cramps. Around the world, saffron has also been used in folk medicine to treat depression and stress, among other things.
Kashmiri saffron is known by its deep red color with an orange-yellow thread running through it. The Kashmiri term zaffran means yellowish-orange color, which is what distinguishes this spice from other types of saffron.
