What is Saffron?
Saffron is a spice that is added to dishes not just for flavor but also for color. You can find it being used in Indian, Iranian, Moroccan, and Spanish cuisine.
How is it harvested and where does it come from?
The saffron that we know, which is the bright red short stems, actually comes from a beautiful purple flower known as Crocus sativus. The flower itself is not used to create the spice. Saffron is the stigma and styles of the flower which when harvested is also referred to as threads.
Saffron can be found in many different countries such as India, Greece, Morocco, Italy, Turkey, China, and even Switzerland and Australia. However, Iran is the largest producer of saffron accounting for about 80-90% of the world’s saffron production. It is also believed that the saffron from Iran or also known as Kashmiri saffron is the best in the world because of its color, medicinal value as well as its aroma.
Saffron starts with corms being planted around 4-6 inches in the ground. Corms or also known as bulbs are rounded plant stems that help propagate the growing of certain plants. Saffron is best grown in a sandy kind of soil that is not soggy. Overwatering will not create ideal growing conditions. The corms are planted during the end of summer and will take anywhere between 4-10 weeks to grow depending on the weather and conditions.
The corms will develop roots and shoots which will allow the saffron plant to grow up to 10 inches tall. It will have green leaves and will start flowering during the end of fall or autumn season. Once the flowers bloom you have to harvest it quite quickly since the flower blooms only last for a few days.
To harvest the flowers, they are gently plucked by hand and the crimson stigmas which are the saffron threads are gently removed from the flower. It is delicate and requires precision which is why it is only done by hand.
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