Saffron

This edible gold has been a precious spice in our store cupboards since the earliest times. The slender, dry red filaments, almost insignificant in themselves, add a rich colour, fragrance and inimitable flavour to food, qualities which were much prized in medieval times throughout Europe, and later in the New World. Most of the saffron we buy is grown on the Spanish plains, although excellent saffron also comes from Greece, as well as Egypt, Iran, Kashmir, India and Morocco. Unfortunately, it is easy to imitate the appearance of dried saffron, although not its flavour, with the dried petals of the safflower, a member of the thistle family from which safflower oil is derived. If you are offered very cheap saffron, it is almost certainly not saffron.