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Today we will talk about the most expensive spice - saffron.
Its origin is shrouded in mystery.
Some say that crocus saffron comes from Iran, others say that it comes from Greece.
Even among the most expensive spices in the world, saffron stands out for its price.
Real saffron can cost the buyer more than $10,000 per kilo.
It takes more than 150 flowers to produce just 1 gram of saffron.
And to get 1 kilogram of spice, you need about 200 thousand flowers.
And what is stored in your closet at home may well be a fake.
So what makes this spice so expensive?
Saffron is the red stigma of the plant Crocus sativus or saffron sativus.
The saffron crocus is a triploid hybrid species.
It does not occur in the wild and cannot reproduce without human intervention.
Although it has been cultivated for over 3,500 years, all plants grown throughout the world
come from daughter bulbs only.
Each crocus has three small stigmas that are carefully harvested by hand.
This tiny yield means that the amount that comes out of each flower is approximately
0.006 grams.
No machine is capable of doing the delicate work required to collect these fine threads.
And it can take 40 hours of hard manual labor to produce just 1 kilogram of high-quality
saffron.
Growing this plant is also not easy.
For many farmers in the Mediterranean countries, Kashmir, India, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan,
saffron production is the main source of income, since saffron crocuses also grow well on soils
that cannot be used for other agricultural needs.
Today, saffron crops are grown not only in Asia, but also in Europe.
It grows in Germany and Austria, in Mediterranean countries such as Italy and Greece, and in
sun-drenched Spain, home to the largest saffron fields in Europe.
Local growers from around Dresden in Germany swear by the superior quality of German saffron.
Frost makes the plants stronger and the threads more fragrant.
For the past millennia, saffron has been used as a spice, dye, and as a cure for rheumatism
and alcohol addiction.
For example, saffron was also used as a pain reliever during childbirth and for "women's
ailments."
It is a perennial bulbous herbaceous plant.
In fact, they are called corms, but in fact they look like bulbs.
This is a strongly thickened underground part of the stem, in which nutrients are located.
So the number of flowers you can get from one bulb really depends on how they are cared
for, how they are grown, and what climate they grow in.
So, for example, if it rains before harvesting, the flowers will grow larger.
If the weather is very dry before harvesting, then the flowers become smaller.
Therefore, it is necessary to collect flowers and take care of the crop throughout the year
by hand.
Once it's harvest time and flowering begins, pickers must work very quickly to pick the
flowers on time.
Almost all planted saffron can bloom within one week of the year.
And to maintain quality, flowers are best picked in the morning or after sunset.
The grown flowers are viable for only 3-4 days and, if they are not collected on time,
they will have to be thrown away.
The flowering period of saffron is 20-25 days.
During this period, workers in the field pick the flowers by hand and place them in baskets.
Quality is key when growing such a fast flowering crop.
As for the taste of saffron, it depends on the amount of rainfall, temperature and soil
quality.
The territory of Kashmir on the border of India and Pakistan is famous for the production
of the highest quality saffron in the world.
Saffron has been grown in Kashmir since the 16th century.
During the reign of the Great Moghuls, the bulbs of this plant were brought here from
Iran.
In Pampora, located 15 kilometers from Srinagar, the capital of the North Indian state of Jammu
and Kashmir, saffron fields cover just under 4,000 hectares.
The capricious plant needs well-drained, loamy soils.
Compost must be added to the soil.
The bulbs are planted in May-June and harvested in November.
This process is extremely labor intensive: only tiny stigmas of the flower are used,
which are harvested by hand and then dried in the sun.
The collected strand of saffron passes strict control.
It may turn out that in order to get the highest quality, you may have to throw away half the
harvest.
After all, the most expensive premium saffron usually consists of only the very tips of
the stigma.
In Iran, where more than 90% of the world's saffron is produced, there are four varieties.
The lowest fourth grade is called the tied bundle.
This is the entire thread, fully extended from the flower, from the dark red tips to
the yellow base.
In higher grades, the yellow thread is removed, leaving only a long, pure red thread.
So this means that a kilogram of saffron can be made up of 450,000 threads.
And to get that many stigmas, you need 150,000 flowers.
Such a number of flowers takes up a lot of space to grow.
For comparison, for example, cumin, can give 600 kg per acre, nutmeg from the same area
will give 350 kilograms.
And if such a plot of land is used for growing saffron, then the yield will be only 1.8 kg.
Despite the incredibly large and hard work of growing saffron, as well as the area that
this crop occupies, the demand for spice is constantly growing.
More than 200 tons of saffron threads are harvested annually around the world.
This is equivalent to about 30 billion colors.
The demand for the thread is so high that many are involved in falsification, producing
fake saffron.
Saffron threads, which at first glance seem real, can actually be made from corn stigmas,
coconut fibers, or even horsehair.
Synthetic dyes are also used to dye lower grade stigmas and sell them as high quality
saffron.
Fraudsters often buy saffron roots for 1/15 of its price, then dye them with saffron spray
and mix them with pure saffron.
It turns out a very low price compared to the price on the commodity market!
Therefore, experts advise consumers to buy whole threads.
At the end of 2019, a criminal group selling fake saffron was uncovered in the UK.
The international investigation into this case lasted 2 years.
It also revealed that in 2010 Spain exported 190,000 kg of saffron worth $50 million, but
the country's total production was only 1,500 kg.
At the time, a local farmers' union reported that up to 90% of Spanish saffron exports
were scams.
Saffron producing states are trying to crack down on these counterfeit and mislabeled products,
but the problem still persists.
The market for fake saffron closes the door for many real farmers who grow real saffron.
Many people want to know what does real saffron actually taste like?
Experts characterize the taste of saffron as the taste of honey with a metallic tint,
bitter and spicy at the same time.
Others define the taste as spicy, bitter, with an admixture of sweetness and a hint
of fresh hay.
Saffron has one feature - it gives off taste gradually, over 12-24 hours.
The smell of this spice is peculiar - sharp, strong, sweet-tart and bitter.
It is difficult to confuse it with any other spice.
To preserve the aroma, saffron should not be boiled for a long time.
It is best to soak the threads in warm water for a few minutes and add to the bowl of liquid
when it is almost done.
An even more intense color can be obtained if the saffron threads are freshly ground.
The recommended soaking time is 20-30 minutes.
Another way of pre-treatment is frying in a dry pan, grinding into powder and placing
in milk, broth, white wine.
While saffron is more popular than ever, it has been sought after throughout history.
In Greek mythology, Zeus sometimes slept on a bed of saffron.
Cleopatra is said to have bathed in
saffron and milk, using the spice's coloring properties as an ancient fake tan.
Probably every culture has its own myth about the power of the spice, and in the 14th century,
saffron's popularity skyrocketed across Europe when it was considered
a possible cure for the plague.
Recently, a problem has arisen in the world that affects the price of saffron -
this is negative climate change.
In Kashmir, production has dropped significantly, and instead of expanding acreage, many farmers
are selling their land.
Farmers say that the temperature and climate in Kashmir
have completely changed.
There has been very little rain in the last four or five years.
If earlier it took at least two days to collect saffron from a certain area, today it takes
only half an hour to collect saffron from the same field.
Farmers are worried that production is declining, land is being sold and houses are being built
on it.
Between 2017 and 2018, saffron production in the region fell by almost 70%, from 16.5
tons to 5.2.
And continued droughts and climate change will make this harvest even smaller in the
future.
That's all.
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