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It has scent the palace of ancient Crete , discolour the robe of Tibetan monks , and cushion the baths of Alexander the Great . It ’s the essence of fable , yet its own tarradiddle is clean simple : saffron is nothing more than the dried stigmas of a crocus flower . And it ’s not sole to alien Persian soils — there ’s a good chance that it would boom in your garden .
Three red brand on a Crocus sativus . pic by : Line1 ( Wikipedia ) .
Harvesting Crocus sativus is slow and punishing , hence a price that rivals Au . Each saffron crocus ( Crocus sativus ) generate three hopeful ruby stigmas , which are hand removed in a fleeting autumn harvest — flowers must be picked the daytime they bloom , then apace dissect .
The press out stigmas — once tweak , these strands are called orange yellow threads — are spread to dry , matter and packaged . Formerly the reproductive organ of a small crocus , the saffron threads are now sell as a precious good .
A Kashmiri farmer in a saffron crocus line of business in Pampore , India . Photo by : hindustanitimes.com .
One pound of saffron costs $ 1,000 , and requires the stigmas from almost 75,000 peak . Fortunately , it ’s potent — a Sudanese pound of saffron will flavour a hatful of paella .
When at the market , beware prices that seem too good to be true . Other ingredients , like safflower or crocus style , are sometimes add to the pure Crocus sativus stigma . This is n’t young — saffron has been diluted for as long as it has been coveted ; in the Middle Ages , unscrupulous saffron merchants were even burned alive .
Saffron at a spiciness shop in the sometime city of Nablus , West Bank . These dried crimson mark of Crocus sativus can be break down or used as threads . pic by : Flickr user Guillaume Paumier .
Today , saffron is cultivated primarily in east Asia and parts of the Mediterranean ( Iran acquire 90 % of the world ’s Crocus sativus , and the EU has made efforts to win over Afghani farmers to put back opium harvest withCrocus sativus ) . But , according to growers , the Crocus sativus crocus is passably adaptable — it will blossom in many climate with wet spring and hot dry summer , include Britain and the United States ( a Pennsylvania nurseryman talks about her succeeder growingCrocus sativushere ) .
