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Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

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Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

#151

Post by cess11 »

thisislife2 wrote: post #134
falaki wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for digging it up. I can shed more light on the meaning of the original word for Saffron. The article mentions Saffron comes from Arabic az-za’faran. That word is the Arabicized version of an older Persian word: Za-paran (Zayesh-paran), which means "causes abortion" (zaa/zayesh --> birth). The most common source of Saffron in Iran is area in southern Khorasan called Ghohistan (from Kohistan) meaning mountainou…

Does that mean Saffron is dangerous for pregnant women?

If the dose is sufficiently large, possibly. In the doses commonly used in the Occident, not likely.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6235659/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S02546... https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/1...

Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

#152

Post by cess11 »

epolanski wrote: post #148
IAmGraydon wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I have never, ever seen saffron below 5 euros per gram in Europe. Ever. ISO 1 Saffron is no less than 10 euros per gram. If it's less it's not pure and it contains other parts of the flower or worse it has been cut with something. And that's for basic iranian saffron. Quality italian/spanish one (strong in crocin content) is at least 30 euros per gram.

Rather expensive 1 gram packets in regular grocery stores in Sweden go for 2.5-5 grams per 10 euros.

At 'oriental' stores you can find good saffron in larger packages at lower price per weight.

Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

#153

Post by cess11 »

resolutebat wrote: post #66
PreInternet01 wrote: post #7

I love saffron! Not because of its taste (which I kind-of hate) or other properties (like staining, which I definitely hate, or security-theatre-triggering, but more about that below), but mostly due to the rituals around it, and because a friend of mine once got booted off a TV cooking show as a result of using it. So, visiting the famous (and horrible, but thank you!) Spice Market in Istanbul recently, I just could…

Safrole is a precursor for MDMA (ecstasy), so Customs might be interested, but I wouldn't have expected TSA-style scanners to pick this up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safrole

Don't think saffron contains any safrole?

The main plant source would be sassafras.

Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

#154

Post by [deleted] »

rpigab wrote: post #139
Anotheroneagain wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The west isn't that rich anymore - I think it's mostly an artifact from only taking western things into account. The numbers would look very different if the methods weren't biased.

Yes, it's also a difference in values and culture, we are fools to think that Azerbaidjan would desperately need expensive weapons in their recent conflict against Armenia, when in reality they'd always prefer a dozen saffron tea cups over a thousand mortar shells to shoot towards the Nagorno-Karabakh.

[deleted]

Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

#155

Post by cess11 »

Aloisius wrote: post #2

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.

You might have mistaken safflower for saffron, the former is a colouring agent.

Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

#156

Post by cess11 »

yumraj wrote: post #82
Aloisius wrote: post #2

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 and Saffron are completely different. 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.

Saffron has a slightly bitter taste, but unless you're making something like a syrup for gulab jamun which can have a pretty large amount of saffron you're unlikely to use enough to feel it in foodstuffs.

Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

#157

Post by krageon »

curiousObject wrote: post #112
pazimzadeh wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Good comment, but you don’t need to say #2

I think it's reasonable to invite people to reinvestigate their preconceived notions of what folks who don't speak english do and do not know. The original comment was essentially "well how would they know to use a # for a heading? I don't expect that from a non-english speaker", which is definitely a statement that should result in some introspection.

Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

#158

Post by jorvi »

CoolestBeans wrote: post #88
poulsbohemian wrote: post #39

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…

My parents love watching those videos so I know what you're talking about. There's four factors I think. 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…

There is also a lot of "fake" saffron. Keuringdienst van Waarde (Dutch TV show that analyzes the quality / scams in food) has a whole item on it: https://kro-ncrv.nl/programmas/keuringsdienst-van-waarde/pep...

Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

#159

Post by Filligree »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #102
ghastmaster wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I suspect you are right here - not dissimilar to how I go to the woods after morels and would never pay the $50/pound that you find in some farmer’s markets

Picking mushrooms wild is, in fairness, hugely time-intensive.

Also a great outdoor activity, so keep doing that. I'm sure you know just the right spots by now. :-)

Re: Saffron: The Most Expensive Spice

#160

Post by agos »

morkalork wrote: post #108
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #15

I've spoken to many people who have purchased a tiny jar of saffron but have no idea how to use it, so here's what I consider an excellent starter recipe: https://wtop.com/lifestyle/2024/01/braised-chicken-with-fenn... Reprinted from here ( https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/provencal-braised-chic... ) with permission, and avoids the paywall. This dish also works just as well with fish (it is based on a bouillabai…

I'm surprised after all day nobody mentions paella. Definitely not a starter recipe but still, rather well-known is it not?

I'm equally surprised by the absence of risotto in the mentions!
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