I read somewhere that Saffron is often deliberately contaminated with lead.
Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice
21–30 of 193 posts
Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice
#22- "One of the earliest references to saffron dates to 2300 BCE, in The Legend of Sargon of Akkad, a Mesopotamian work that describes the birthplace of the founder of the Akkadian empire as “city of saffron.”" This doesn't seem right: Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known Mesopotamian work of fiction and it's a more recent ~2,100 BCE [0]. The historic person Sargon of Assad lived in the 24th/23rd century BCE [1]—are t…
>This doesn't seem right: Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known Mesopotamian work of fiction and it's a more recent ~2,100 BCE [0].
Perhaps because The Legend of Sargon of Akkad isn't fiction, it's an autobiography?
Edit: Is this perhaps the autobiography that his Wiki article is referring to under "Birth Legend"?
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/746/the-legend-of-sargo...
Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice
#23Had anyone tried to grow their own saffron? How did it go?
We grow saffron here in N Texas and have for about 3 years now. Last year was our best year for production but that is only because we expanded the number of bulbs that we have planted so our saffron harvest grew in line with that. The first year we ended up with less than a dozen threads total. It is easy to grow. Just stick the bulb about 1" to 1.5" (25 mm - 40 mm) below the surface and water it in. Keep it moist b…
Thanks for this information! I'm always amazed at the types of people who browse HN.
Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice
#24- "One of the earliest references to saffron dates to 2300 BCE, in The Legend of Sargon of Akkad, a Mesopotamian work that describes the birthplace of the founder of the Akkadian empire as “city of saffron.”" This doesn't seem right: Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known Mesopotamian work of fiction and it's a more recent ~2,100 BCE [0]. The historic person Sargon of Assad lived in the 24th/23rd century BCE [1]—are t…
>This doesn't seem right: Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known Mesopotamian work of fiction and it's a more recent ~2,100 BCE [0]. Perhaps because The Legend of Sargon of Akkad isn't fiction, it's an autobiography? Edit: Is this perhaps the autobiography that his Wiki article is referring to under "Birth Legend"? https://www.worldhistory.org/article/746/the-legend-of-sargo...
Yeah, but, per your link:
- "Both pieces today are sometimes classified as belonging to the genre of Mesopotamian naru literature – the world's first historical fiction – in which a famous figure, usually a king, is featured as the main character in a fictional work."
- "The earliest copy is dated to the 7th century BCE"
Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice
#25I used to work in a spice factory. Unlike everything else, they locked the saffron up separately. There were detailed weight logs for when we hand packed (with tweezers) it into jars. We were told it was worth more by weight than cocaine.
I'm taking the cocaine wasn't locked then...
I would assume the cocaine at a spice factory would be locked up better and in the same manner as it is locked up at a brokerage.
Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
We grow saffron here in N Texas and have for about 3 years now. Last year was our best year for production but that is only because we expanded the number of bulbs that we have planted so our saffron harvest grew in line with that. The first year we ended up with less than a dozen threads total. It is easy to grow. Just stick the bulb about 1" to 1.5" (25 mm - 40 mm) below the surface and water it in. Keep it moist b…
Thanks for this information! I'm always amazed at the types of people who browse HN.
I just added a photo for context. Thanks for reading all that.
Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice
#27Saffron's expensive by weight; but not per recipe. A teaspoon of the stuff could float away on the breeze, but few recipes call for as much as a teaspoon. A £5.00 box of saffron lasts me about 3 months, and I use the stuff weekly.
I think most people have no idea how to use it efficiently either. Cooking shows and recipes often depict simply adding threads directly to a recipe.
Growing up, I was taught to grind a small amount into a fine powder and mix with a bit of very hot water, which yields an incredibly potent, fragrant, and inexpensive ingredient that can flavor significant quantities of food.
Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice
#28Had anyone tried to grow their own saffron? How did it go?
They grow reasonably well in the PNW but I’m not so sure about the flavor intensity.
Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice
#29I read somewhere that Saffron is often deliberately contaminated with lead.
There’s an orangish red pigment that is made of lead. Most recently there was a turmeric contamination scandal involving lead contamination.
Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice
#30Years ago, I was convinced that saffron's "taste" was more mental than anything else, so I ran a little matched pairs experiment to see if anyone could taste the difference between a rice dish with saffron or one without. No one could. Admittedly, it was too small of an experiment to be sure, but it just seems like a very expensive food dye to me. I'll just stick to turmeric.
Generally it's very hard to prove a negative. I can definitely smell the difference in saffron and non-saffron rice dishes. There are plenty of people who can't distinguish between say roses and coffee but the distinction definitely exists.