Saffron

Saffron is a splendid spice, fragrant, flavorful and golden.  Saffron has always been the most valuable spice in the world, but it is inexpensive to use, as only a few threads will flavor and color most dishes.  Saffron is the flavorful red stigma of the fall, flowering crocus.  It imparts a beautiful golden color and a rich flavor to many traditional Indian, Spanish and Northern European dishes.  Saffron  is a very labor intensive crop to produce.  The 3 saffron threads in each flower have to be carefully removed by hand.  To produce one pound, an entire acre of the small flowers, about 70,000 crocuses, must be harvested, all by hand.

These many hours of labor make saffron the most expensive spice in the world by weight, but it is very potent, so only a tiny amount is used each time you cook.  A pinch of saffron, will give a light golden color and that prized saffron flavor to 4 servings of saffron rice, or 2 quarts of chicken soup. 

The stigma are also called threads, strings, pieces or strands.  1 gram equals 2 teaspoons whole, or 1 teaspoon crumbled or 1/2 teaspoon powdered.  Do not buy pre-powdered saffron because it loses flavor quickly, and has probably been cut with turmeric or something else. The Greeks considered Saffron to be the essence of youth and life, and considered a proper gift for newlyweds.  It takes very little saffron to turn water yellow, leading to its use as a natural dye in the past.

My Store mixes and blends are in-house recipes adapted from old-fashioned, made-from-scratch cooking, but designed for today's busy cook that are fast and easy to prepare. Many of our recipes have been handed down from my mother and grandmother!  You won't find these mixes at your local grocery store! We are confident you won't be disappointed with our products.