Saffron at $5,000 a pound

I. Why it costs what it costs

Saffron is the dried stigma of the Crocus sativus flower. Each flower produces three stigmas. The stigmas must be harvested by hand, from flowers that open for one week in October and must be picked within hours of opening before the sun damages them. A single pound of dried saffron requires approximately 75,000 flowers.

The harvest in the Khorasan region of Iran — specifically in the area around the city of Torbat Heydarieh, which produces the majority of the world's saffron — happens in a period of approximately two weeks each October. The entire year's production is harvested in this window.

The scale of the production relative to global demand is the basic source of the price. Demand is consistent and growing. Supply is limited by the labor required and the specific climate the crocus requires. The price follows.

II. The fraud

Because saffron is worth $5,000 per pound, there is a significant industry in fraudulent saffron. Common frauds: other flower stigmas dyed red. Safflower — called «bastard saffron» in older texts — with no flavor. Actual saffron mixed with non-saffron material. Ground saffron mixed with turmeric or paprika.

Genuine saffron threads are darker red at the top where the stigma widens and lighter at the bottom. They do not bleed color immediately when placed in cold water — they release slowly over several minutes, turning the water yellow-gold. They have a flavor that is simultaneously floral, slightly medicinal, and vaguely metallic. The compound is safranal.

Buy threads, not powder. Powder is easier to adulterate. The price per gram should make you slightly uncomfortable — if it seems like a bargain, it is not saffron.

III. How to use it

The most common error: adding the threads directly to a dish and expecting them to flavor it. Saffron requires blooming — steeping the threads in a warm liquid to release the color and flavor compounds before adding to the dish. The threads steep 10 to 20 minutes. The steeped liquid — golden, fragrant — goes into the dish.

The quantity: more is not better. Saffron at high concentrations becomes medicinal. A quarter teaspoon of threads bloomed in three tablespoons of warm water is sufficient for a dish serving four to six.

IV. What it is for in Persian cooking

Saffron is not a background note in Persian cooking. It is a primary flavor in the dishes that use it, and those dishes are the center of the cuisine.

Chelow ba tahdig — white rice steamed over a layer of crisped rice crust, finished with saffron-bloomed rice laid over the top in orange-gold ribbons — is the form rice takes on the Persian table for significant occasions. The tahdig is the prize.

Khoresht — the stew category — uses saffron in many examples. Sholeh zard — Persian rice pudding — is saffron, rice, rosewater, sugar, and cardamom, colored entirely by the saffron, served at religious occasions and at Nowruz.

Recipe — Chelow · Persian Steamed Rice with Saffron Tahdig

Darius Ahmadi · Tehran · serves 6 · 90 minutes

• Serves 6
• 30 min soak
• 40 min steam
• ¼ tsp saffron

Ingredients

• 400 g aged basmati rice
• Salt (parboil water as salty as pasta water)
• 4 tbsp neutral oil or clarified butter
• ¼ tsp saffron threads, bloomed in 3 tbsp warm water

The method

1. Wash rice until the water runs clear. Soak in cold salted water 30 minutes. Drain.
2. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add drained rice. Parboil 5 to 6 minutes until the outside is soft but the center still has a small white dot of uncooked starch. Drain. Rinse with cold water.
3. Dry the pot completely. Heat oil or clarified butter over medium-high heat. Add a thin layer of parboiled rice to cover the bottom. This becomes the tahdig.
4. Mound the remaining rice on top in a pyramid. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke 5 to 6 holes in the rice down to the bottom layer to allow steam to escape.
5. Cover with a clean cloth and then the lid. Cook on medium-high 3 minutes, then reduce to the lowest possible heat. Cook 30 to 40 minutes.
6. Mix 3 to 4 large spoonfuls of cooked rice with the bloomed saffron until evenly colored.
7. To serve: mound the white rice on a serving plate. Unmold the tahdig separately — it should come out golden and crisp as a single disc. Place the saffron rice over and around the white rice as a garnish.

About the contributor

Darius Ahmadi

Darius Ahmadi writes about Iranian saffron and Persian cooking from Tehran, Iran. He buys saffron threads, never powder, from a single supplier in Torbat Heydarieh whose family has been growing crocus since the 1880s.

Editor’s notes — the longer view

A note on storage. Saffron deteriorates. Store in an airtight container, in a cool, dark location — not the refrigerator, which introduces moisture. A small glass jar in a cabinet away from the stove is correct. Keep on hand only what you will use in three to six months.

A note on the price math. A dish serving four to six requires approximately 0.1 grams. At $15 per gram, that is $1.50. This is the correct way to think about saffron — bought small, used carefully, it costs less per dish than most spice cabinets contain.

A note on grade. Negin is all stigma, no yellow style attached, the top grade. Sargol is the upper stigma only, still excellent. Pushal includes some yellow style. Avoid konj — mostly yellow, sold as «saffron» at low prices.

A note on the source. Iranian saffron is the benchmark. Spanish saffron is good, expensive, often partly Iranian repackaged. Kashmiri saffron is a small premium production. Buy from a supplier with a reputation and a traceable source.

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