Saffron, Spice
Saffron is the dried stigma of the small purple flower of saffron crocus (Crocus sativus), a species of crocus in family Iridaceae. Saffron is the world's most precious and most expensive spice, with a strong coloring power and intense flavor. It is used sparingly in cooking, both for its bright orange-yellow color and the strong, intense flavor and aroma. Greece, Spain, Turkey, Iran, India, and Morocco are the world's leading saffron producers, while Germany, Italy, U.S.A., Switzerland, U.K., and France are the world largest saffron importers. Each Crocus sativus flower bears three stigmas, and these stigmas must be picked from each flower manually. One ounce of saffron requires about 14000 of flowers. Saffron contains crocin, a carotenoid dye with a strong coloring properties, while picrocrocin and safranal provides the distinctive hay-like aroma, bitter taste and essential oils. Saffron is available both in filamen and powder form, but the filament type is preferable since the powder form can be easily adulterated. Pure saffron is made up of tiny, bright-red filamens or threads. The redder the saffron, the higher the quality, but make sure the tips of the threads are of slightly lighter orange-red color, to prevent buying cheap saffron which has been dyed red to look expensive. Saffron is graded using the standards set by the International Organization for Standardization, in measurement of crocin (colour), picrocrocin (taste), and safranal (fragrance) content. Saffron needs to be steeped in hot water, to release its flavor essence, before being added to food. Pre-soaking the saffron threads also allows the rich color to disperse throughout the food. Saffron has many health benefits, including treating asthma, menstrual discomfort, depression, atheroscleosis, lower the levels of bad cholesterol and triglycerides, and many other ailments.  Crocus sativus flower Author: KENPEI (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported) | ||
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