Saffron

[izbnso]

Having made a batch of my roasted garlic and pesto bread to photograph, my husband and I played the roll of the bread fairies and took loaves to nearby friends.

Friend number one offered up a plate of the fine dinner she was preparing, we declined as we had another delivery to make.

Friend number two is a co-worker of my husband. We caught him just in time for his spaghetti dinner. He was very grateful and instead of dinner he offered (and I greedily accepted) a jar of saffron he picked up when he was in the Middle East last week. (Husband and friend work at a distance learning institution that has contracts with a number of foreign governments and they are always all over the place. I’m not sure if he was in Bahrain or Saudi when he bought the saffron, but it came from an open air market. He haggled for it and everything.)

I have never cooked anything with saffron, ever. The cost and the fact that I am so unfamiliar with it has kept me from just picking some up to play with. So, all my saffron knowledge is theoretical at best.

I would really appreciate some input here. I’m guessing that there are about three Tablespoons (possibly more of saffron) in the jar so I think I’ve got a fair amount to work with. What should I do with it? Keep in mind that I would like to make something for the friend who gave it to me, something that can be sent to work with my husband and sit around the office all day. Probably a baked good or confection, which is my comfort zone anyway. But, I’m thinking that I have enough to do several things with.

Help. I really want to maximize what I’ve got and figured ya’ll would be the ones to ask.

Thanks in advance.

[KYHeirloomer]

Saffron is really and truly bad for you, Izbnso. You need to quickly package it up and send it to me for proper disposal!

Swedish Saffron Buns might be right up your ally. I haven't made them in years, but I'll see if I can dig up the recipe.

Three tablespoons of saffron is a princely gift indeed. For most uses it is measured in pinches. Typically, a pinch of saffron is pulverized between the fingers into a small amount of warm water, and the saffron water added to the dish.

[Dirk Skene]

I rarely cook rice without a pinch of saffron added to the start of the cooking & mixed in well. I also will add a pinch to any beef stew I make.

My brother-in-law always brings me a 1/4 gram or sometimes a 1/2 gram when he makes his trips to the middle east.

[boar_d_laze]

Just a few thoughts:

There are three major sources for saffron in the world: Spain, Iran and India. Those three regional cuisines offer lots of opportunities to use your wonderful gift.

The "right" way to measure it for most purposes is by the strand. Figure a "pinch" at about 6 strands. This depends to some extent on the quality of the saffron. Each country produces several different grades -- the better the saffron the more powerful and the less needed. So, you adjust as you learn your particular saffron. Speaking of learning, it's important to "bloom" it before you use it. That is, let it soak in some of whatever liquid you'll be using for 20 minutes or so before incorporating it.

Saffron has an interesting flavor profile as a background note. It has more or its own identity than, say, turmeric. Nor does it bring out other spices the way turmeric does. Rather, it marries them. An interesting American saffron alternative is anatto, often sold as achiote is less colorful and more flavorful. But I digress.

Paella is a kind of rice dish from Spain. Most Americans immediately think of Paella Valenciana, a mixed paella with chicken, sausage, and a variety of seafood. I"m not saying no Spaniard would eat it, but let's say it's wildly unlike anything you're likely to find in Spain. Anyway, to make a good paella you'll need a special (inexpensive!) pan which cooks the rice just so. Paella cannot be baked, it cannot be cooked in a big pot. It cannot be made with the lid on. Surprisingly, Paella is not sticky or clumpy, and the meat isn't overcooked. If you haven't had real paella, you just don't know.

To my mind, a summer meal built around sherry and Spanish wine, a few tapas, gazpacho and a good paella, sounds like the perfect thank you. If this is something you want to do, we can get more specific about recipes and where to find a good, cheap paellera. Don't worry too much about the cost of the pan. We're talking in the thirties, including shipping -- and it's a pan that will see a lot of use for things other than arrozes.

Lots of Indian dishes use saffron for color. Because the other seasonings in most Indian dishes are so powerful the saffron flavor can sometimes get lost. One place it doesn't is in an Indian ice cream called kulfi. Wonderful stuff, and not hard to make. A couple of other saffron intensive Indian dishes are butter chicken, and potatoes and cauliflower.

You can make some very high-end Persian kabab by brining a few chicken breasts, skewering them, and grilling slowly over a low heat grill. (They like slow fires for grilling over there. What can I say?). As the chicken cooks, baste it with butter infused with saffron and sumac. Great stuff.

Saffron works well in baking -- but mostly for color, you won't get much flavor out of it. I do like to bake with it, even though turmeric does nearly as well. I make an egg and butter bread, much like challah, especially for French toast and use a little saffron and a touch of cardamom too.

BDL

[izbnso]

KYHeirloomer, I would love the Swedish buns recipe. You know that those of us that reside South of the Mason Dixon don’t see yeast risen treats, what with us being biscuit eaters and all, as often as those who live in other foreign areas like North Dakota . So, while it may not be the optimal use for flavor it will be something unique that I can send to the office for their weekly cabinet meeting while I try and schedule boar d laze’s Spanish themed summer meal.

Boar d laze, I’m exceedingly interested in the idea of “a summer meal built around sherry and Spanish [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][COLOR=#006666! important]wine[/font][/color], a few tapas, gazpacho and a good paella” any and all ideas to that effect are welcome, especially wine and sherry selections. I really stink at choosing wines. I know what I like once I’ve had it, however I freely admit to not being overly adventurous in my selections and I am always lost in the face of so many choices. My experience with sherry is limited to the sherry I cook with and my now deceased sainted grandmother’s love of Taylor red sherry. She was 95 when she passed (sharp as a tack to the end) and lived with me and my husband the last years of her life. She would sip sherry after dinner, get giggly and then ask my husband to help her to bed in her Old South drawl that got thicker and thicker the more the sherry flowed.

Indian food overwhelms my palate and I have never really cared for it, but I am interested in the Indian ice cream, too cool (pardon the pun).

Unfortunately, the grill was a casualty of the last move and we haven’t replaced it yet. So nothing grilled for a while.

I’ve got four different chocolate moulds that I picked up on line at Chocolat-Chocolat (they’re in Canada) that I adore. I have a seashell that is really pretty (I haven’t identified the crustacean it is supposed to be but it is similar to a nautilus), a pyramid, a geometric dome and a paisley shaped magnetic mould. I am always looking for something different to do with them. (And pairing the flavor with the shape if possible.) I had great success with herb and spice infused chocolates when I supplied a local coffee shop before we moved last year and I have been experimenting with a dark chocolate infused with a native mint that I recently picked up at a local nursery. Would a saffron infused chocolate or white chocolate be a wise use or a waste? (I have visions of the paisley shape with a multi-colored stenciled top evoking the Indian paisleys that I am partial to in textiles.)

[KYHeirloomer]

If you can find Persian (i.e. Iranian) saffron without a second mortgage, snap it up. There was a drought over there, which seriously impacted the supply. And Persian is actually the best.

A fourth growing area is Morroco. But the saffron there might be coming from a different crocus cultivar, because it has a bitter undertone. Not what we expect saffron to taste like.

I never use saffron in highly spiced foods, like Indian, despite what the recipe may say. In cases where it is overpowered by other flavors there's no point spending that kind of money. Being as it's only adding color, turmeric works just fine.

>An interesting American saffron alternative is anatto, often sold as achiote is less colorful and more flavorful<

It should be noted that annatto comes in the form of seeds, and is bloomed in oil, rather than water or stock. And you will never get the color intensity out of it that you do with saffron and turmeric. But it does have it's own flavor profile.

[boar_d_laze]

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer

If you can find Persian (i.e. Iranian) saffron without a second mortgage, snap it up. There was a drought over there, which seriously impacted the supply. And Persian is actually the best.

Yes to best Persian probably being best of the best saffron. But there are several graded levels from each region and qualities overlap. As I understand it the grading is based on the amount of dense woody bits in the stamen. The less the better.

In addition to the drought KYH mentions, the current political situation makes Iranian goods extra-pricey. Just to make the whole thing more fun, the primary growing region in India is the Kashmir which has its own problems. Everyone else just charges what the market will bear. Quite a bit, apparently.

A fourth growing area is Morroco. But the saffron there might be coming from a different crocus cultivar, because it has a bitter undertone. Not what we expect saffron to taste like.

Another area we didn't mention is Greece. Greece is actually one of the largest producers, third to Iran and India, IIRC. The reason I mentioned Iran, India and Spain is because of the quality and the prevalence of the spice in their typical cuisines. Also, I've never knowingly tried or used Moroccan or other middle-eastern saffrons. Color me clueless. Greek saffron I've used (Trader Joe's) was mediocre.

I never use saffron in highly spiced foods, like Indian, despite what the recipe may say. In cases where it is overpowered by other flavors there's no point spending that kind of money. Being as it's only adding color, turmeric works just fine.

Total agreement!

>An interesting American saffron alternative is anatto, often sold as achiote is less colorful and more flavorful<

It should be noted that annatto comes in the form of seeds, and is bloomed in oil, rather than water or stock. And you will never get the color intensity out of it that you do with saffron and turmeric. But it does have it's own flavor profile.

Let's start with some terminology. The plant is called achiote. The seeds are called annatto or achiote. The most popular seasoning is called achiote paste or recado rojo.

The color and flavor chemicals can be extracted from annatto seeds with water, quite easily. In fact, that's the most common method for most non-culinary purposes. Almost any liquid can be used to bloom annatto seeds, including water, oil, stock or vinegar. Vinegar is very popular.

Achiote is a powerful dye, is used commercially as a "natural dye," and will produce as much color as saffron or turmeric when used appropriately whether for food or other purposes. There's a lot of overlapping range in the colors you get in foods. I find turmeric brighter and paler, saffron deeper and shading towards orange, and annatto in between on depth, but tending still more towards orange in color. As a commercial dye, for textiles for instance, achiote is used more for oranges and reds than yellows.

Out here, most of us buy annatto in the form of achiote paste which can be bloomed in water or stock or anything liquid. Achiote paste is a sort of dampish powder, made from annatto and a few (okay, many) other seasonings. The annatto in achiote paste is somehow partly "pre-bloomed" (maybe just by grinding?). In any case, it doesn't require much additional blooming to make it work. The flavor profile of achiote paste is a lot like saffron -- lots of bitter, lots of bouquet. For savory purposes (remember the other spices), it's more like saffron than turmeric. I've never heard of achiote used for sweets other than in the Yucatan.

Annatto oil is it's own thing. It's extremely popular in Caribbean cooking, which is probably why KYH, as a (more or less) Easterner thinks it's the primary (or only) method for using achiote. A Puerto Riqueno or Cubano would use annatto oil to make arroz con pollo, but most Mexicans would use recado rojo ("El Yucateco" and "La Perla Mayab" are the most popular brands in California -- I like La Perla).

I sense we're getting away from saffron. Okay. I'll shut up.

BDL

[FishAholic]

Just to be basic....Saffron is VERY strong. In reading the responses I didn't notice (if I missed it I'm sorry) BUT again it is a very strong flavor. You can ruin a meal by adding more than a little bit. You are truly lucky to have gotten your hands on this as the first time I bought saffron for a fish recipe, I paid almost $10 and it was a typical grocery store herb bottle, but it had a paper bag in it with just a small amount of saffron in it. Again, we all know it is outrageously expensive, and if I missed it in a response I apologize, but it is very strong and you only need a tiny bit to flavor anything.

[KYHeirloomer]

Must be a regional thing, as you suggest, cuz I've never even seen achiote paste.

And, while I may be eastern to you guys out there (isn't everybody), it's still another 800 miles to the ocean. I can't even get annato seeds around here, and have to order them---like so much else---off the net.

The only saffron I can buy locally is Spanish, and, likely, not the highest quality. But even it's become price happy. Previous tube I bought (1 gram in what looks like a plastic pill bottle), maybe a month ago, was right at eight bucks. Last week the same container was $9.59.

True, saffron is the second most expensive spice in the world. But it's starting to get a little ridiculous.

[bughut]

Although I'm very much looking forward to seeing my husband againafter he's been in Dubai for 2 months, I'll be uber-keen to see my prezzies. I know i'm getting a jam jar size of Saffron 100 dirhams= £30 $60 ithink and 3 dozen vanilla pods. Its so exciting isn't it - getting spices as presents. He asked me in his last email what else i would like and i just went blank.
Any ideas what I should ask for?

My only rules for saffron (and i use it often) is dont waste it on strongly spiced food ie curries, save it for the rice

And dont use too much... It can be horrible in excess

[OregonYeti]

An Iranian friend game me some almond brittle (like peanut brittle but with almonds) flavored with saffron, which I really liked. He also made beef kebabs marinated in a yogurt-based marinade, with saffron butter brushed on as they were cooking, then served wrapped in a thin whole wheat flat bread--delicious. (The marinade was made of yogurt, grated onions, lemon juice and S&P).