Saffron is known as “the king of spices,” and as the world’s most expensive spice. Saffron is made from the dried stigmas of the flower species crocus. Each flower of the crocus sativus has only three pistils, and these must be picked by hand. Over 70,000 flowers are required to yield 1 lb. of saffron. It has been used since classical times as a flavoring in food and wine. It is an effective stimulant and digestive, increasing the flow of saliva and digestive juices. The very best saffron is grown in Valencia, Spain, and is widely cultivated in the mountains of Kashmir, India.
The Gathering of Saffron is one of the finest and most popular brand since 1880, used by world renound chefs. It is 100% pure, premium quality, free from any objectionable or animal fat. In addition, the Gathering of Saffron brand is Kosher certified.
Saffron is the three stigmas of the saffron crocus flower. Very delicate and thread-like, the stigmas have a bright orange-red color and with high quality saffron, such as our “Gathering of Saffron” brand, this color is uniform. The Select Grade is considered the top of the line Saffron, well known for its strong perfume, lovely flavor and excellent coloring capabilities. The price of saffron is affirmed by its coloring power, with categories from I to IV and with category I being the strongest. But as with other expensive spices, a little goes a long way, and most recipes only call for one pinch at a time. One of the main reasons for the rather high price of saffron is the amount of work involved in cultivating and harvesting the stigmas from the crocus flower.
Furthermore, each crocus flower provides only 3 red stigmas. So in order to produce 1 oz of saffron, approximately 14,000 of these little saffron threads are needed. The tiny threads must be handpicked from the crocus flower at dawn as soon as the flower opens, to protect the stigmas from sunlight.
Spanish saffron has been well known in Europe and America for its romantic aroma, lovely flavor, and coloring capabilities. They come in very attractive packaging with lower prices than the other two rivals, mainly Kashmiri saffron and Persian saffron. Spanish saffron generally does not come in all red threads and you should expect to see some yellow with your saffron.