2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
The fragrant saffron is the most expensive spice in the world - the price per kilogram of it today varies in the range of 5-6 thousand dollars. In addition, saffron is the only spice from the Middle Ages, for which to this day connoisseurs of culinary art are willing to pay such a huge price.
One of the reasons for the high price of saffron is its labor-intensive production. Unlike other plants, the purple crocus from which the spice is extracted does not grow on its own. World market experts quote: to plant the purple crocus territory in 1 hectare will require an investment of $ 28,000 dollars. And to get 10 kg of spice from this hectare will take 7 years.
Manual labor in the production of saffron
The most favorable conditions for growing purple crocus are the soil that does not accumulate moisture, abundant sediment during germination and its complete absence during flowering of the plant. With these parameters, Iran is the ideal place to concentrate about half of the world's saffron production. 1/10 of saffron is produced in the province of Kashmir, which is the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan. The rest come from Greece, Spain, Afghanistan, Italy. Spanish saffron is considered the most expensive, the cheapest is Iranian.
The main difficulty in the production of saffron is that only manual labor is used to collect the flowers of the purple crocus and to process its stamens. In addition, the plant blooms only 2 times a year, and the duration of flowering of each flower does not exceed 3 days. It is necessary to have time to collect the stamens at dawn from the first day of flowering and to dry quickly. Only then the finished spice will be of high quality.
In order to obtain 500 g of ready saffron, it is necessary to process about 75,000 flowers. That is why in Kashmir, for example, during flowering during the purple crocus season, entire villages (from small to large) are mobilized for the campaign. The hard but short work during the harvest of this crop allows people to experience relatively well throughout the year.
Why is this capricious saffron so fragrant and attractive?
Photo: Yordanka Kovacheva
According to legend, the wounds of Alexander the Great, received in battle, were healed with the help of saffron.
Cleopatra used the tincture of this spice as an elixir of youth and beauty.
Dried saffron is used as a fabric dye. Clothes made of purple crocus were considered very expensive and only the upper strata of society from antiquity and the Middle Ages could afford it.
Today, saffron is actively used in pharmacology, perfumery and cooking. Thus, its anticancer properties have found application in the manufacture of drugs for the treatment of cancer and brain diseases. Saffron tincture is also used in the manufacture of eye drops.
The concentrated extract of saffron is part of many elite perfumes. In the composition of the perfume, this spice acts as a fixative, and also saturates it with woody and bitter-sweet notes.
The use of saffron in food contributes to the development of the hormone of happiness - serotonin.
Saffron tincture is rich in phosphorus, calcium, carotene, riboflavin. In cooking, saffron is used to color confectionery, as well as sausages and cheeses. In the Middle East and South Asia, this spice must be added to pilaf, broths, lamb dishes. In this case, the presence of spices other than saffron is not required, so the dish remains original and universal.
How to distinguish fake saffron
Expensive and laborious production of saffron caused the emergence of various counterfeits. For example, in Eastern markets, saffron powder is often sold under the guise of powdered turmeric and dyed saffron. They all have a rich aroma, but certainly the elite spice is not.
To distinguish real saffron from counterfeit, it is enough to make a few dry crucibles in the water. The real spice will not lose its rich reddish-brown color, while the counterfeit will turn white, yellow or orange. In addition, this saffron has a sweet smell, but the taste of sweetness is almost not felt.
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