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Saffron ranges from $2 - $10 per gram for retail amounts in different parts of the world and less at wholesale. It’s expensive, but nowhere near the price of cocaine.
So... help me understand why it's on the order of $20-30 (or more) in my grocery store or via well-known spice merchants online?
Years 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.
Turmeric has an earthy taste
Saffron is mostly fragrance/smell. No idea what it tastes like. We use it in rice dishes or sometimes in my turmeric milk drink.
Edit: In other words, to figure out if something has saffron, you smell it.
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When I go to Safeway I can find a handful of saffron threads suspended in a small glass jar for about $23, or I can find a similar thing for $30 at a fancier grocer. Meanwhile, if I go to the nearby independent indian grocery store I can get a cigarette-pack-sized box of the stuff for about ten bucks. While it's definitely not the cheapest spice I don't feel bad about liberally using it in my chai recipe and a box us…
It's a near certainty that what you're buying at the Indian store is fake. Check out these two sources and maybe run a test? https://sadafpack.com/blog/how-can-we-distinguish-original-s... https://motherwouldknow.com/how-to-identify-real-saffron-avo...
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Could it be fake, adulterated or poisonous somehow?
BS to downvote me for this comment. Cheap olive oil is counterfeit. Cheap milk, honey and coffee are adulterated with fillers. Cheap tumeric is colored with lead oxide
Here's what I don't get... so here in the US, saffron is generally speaking, extremely expensive and rationed carefully by cooks. Meanwhile, I watch these cooking videos on YouTube and people in villages in places like Azerbaijan are casually throwing the equivalent of $10,000 worth of saffron into their tea. Granted, I understand places like Iran (spoiler alert: not the best relationship with the US) are major produ…
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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…
Where to buy the bulb ?
[0] https://www.rareseeds.com/crocus-saffron-25-bulbs
We have also bought from an online seller through Amazon and had similar results with the bulbs we planted. After our success, several relatives have also bought saffron crocus through BCHS or an Amazon link and will be having their first harvest this growing season. There are some Amazon sellers who still have some available. [1] It will also be pretty widely available in the fall from other heirloom and organic seed and vegetable sources since it is typically planted in fall so it can over-winter outside.
For us it did not matter that we added to our plantings in the spring last year. We had an unusual cold snap that kicked them into gear and the summer was hot and dry. It was great.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/saffron-crocus/s?k=saffron+crocus
Here's what I don't get... so here in the US, saffron is generally speaking, extremely expensive and rationed carefully by cooks. Meanwhile, I watch these cooking videos on YouTube and people in villages in places like Azerbaijan are casually throwing the equivalent of $10,000 worth of saffron into their tea. Granted, I understand places like Iran (spoiler alert: not the best relationship with the US) are major produ…
One, the quality of the saffron makes a big difference in price. Longer deeper red strands are much more expensive than shorter and more yellow strands. I suspect they are not using the most expensive saffron in their teas.
Two, there's a lot of markup purchasing saffron from most retailers, especially here in the US. You can get that amount of saffron for far less than $10,000 if you know someone who has a connect.
Three, as you said the majority of saffron production is from Iran. Some friends I know are getting their saffron from the UAE but I'm pretty sure its being re-exported from Iran.
Four, those videos are ultimately productions. If you compare the earlier videos to the later videos on some of that channel you can tell they've upgraded their digs. They might just be exaggerating for the camera.
Here's what I don't get... so here in the US, saffron is generally speaking, extremely expensive and rationed carefully by cooks. Meanwhile, I watch these cooking videos on YouTube and people in villages in places like Azerbaijan are casually throwing the equivalent of $10,000 worth of saffron into their tea. Granted, I understand places like Iran (spoiler alert: not the best relationship with the US) are major produ…
I have a Greek friend who's family goes into the mountains and picks it. There is no market infrastructure in the villages, similar to how venison is expensive at a restaurant, yet poor rural hunters kill and eat it all the time.
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So... help me understand why it's on the order of $20-30 (or more) in my grocery store or via well-known spice merchants online?
Just guessing that the price varies hugely depending on where in the world you're buying it. I'd expect it to be cheaper the closer you are to a saffron-producing nation. A bit like how, if you're used to how cheap avocados are on the US west coast, you can suffer from sticker shock when buying them on the east side.