Saffron comes from the crocus flower and the dried red threads loved by chefs worldwide cost up to 10 euros per gram, more expensive than gold apparently. 150 flowers yield roughly 1 gram of dried saffron threads. The harvest of the pretty purple flowers must be done by hand and there is about a three week window of opportunity when the time is right for picking. It must be done in the morning on a sunny day. This time falls in November in Morocco. Within each flower are three reddish stigmas....this is the spice, saffron. These three stigmas are very fragile and are plucked from each flower by hand. Expect to get orange fingers ! Once the stigmas are collected from each flower, they need to be dried out then they are ready for your saffron rice or paella.
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