What Is Saffron Made Of?
Saffron goes by many names: "safran" in France; "zafferano" in Italy; "khesa" or "kesram" in India. But its bright yellow color and distinct flavor make the spice universally recognizable. It is used in risotto, pilaf, bouillabaisse, and most famously, paella. Saffron carries such an intense flavor and color that very little is required in any dish: One pinch of saffron is enough to spice up one pound of rice. But how does it make the journey from the ground to the cooking pot? Does this Spark an idea?
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Saffron in Myth
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According to Greek myth, Crocus, a handsome mortal, fell in love with a beautiful nymph named Smilax. When she rejected him, he was transformed into the blue-violet crocus flower from which saffron can be made -- the saffron crocus, or crocus sativus.
Saffron Crocus
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This long, delicate plant has been used medicinally and cosmetically for centuries; it's been used for dyes, for Cleopatra's baths and for simple ornamentation. The saffron crocus flowers in autumn and grows to about six inches.
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History and Trade
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The saffron crocus is native to the Mediterranean region and Southeast Asia. The Romans carried saffron across Europe with the expansion of their empire. Trade in saffron ceased during the Dark Ages, but at some point it was revived. One legend states that a 14th century pilgrim carried a saffron bulb from the Middle East to England, and it was the parent plant from which all saffron in England is said to descend. Saffron was brought to America by members of a Dutch church called the Schwenkfelder Church, who settled in Pennsylvania and began to cultivate the plant. Today, most saffron is imported from Spain.
Production
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Saffron can be extracted only from the three orange stigmas -- fragile and thread-like inner strands -- of the saffron crocus. The stigmas of a high-quality saffron crocus will be bright orange-red, and any lighter coloration is a mark of an inferior plant. These stigmas are dried and then ground into saffron powder.
Price
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Because production is so labor-intensive and difficult, saffron comes at a high price. It takes over 70,000 blossoms of the saffron crocus (approximately 225,000 stigmas) to produce a single pound of saffron. To put it another way, it takes a football field's worth of plants and over 60 hours of labor to produce each pound. One pound of saffron retails for roughly $1,000, making saffron the most expensive spice in the world.
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