Saffron why so expensive

Ghalehgolabbehbahani: The yield of saffron is really low. You have to hire a lot of laborers to harvest 4 pounds of saffron per acre. Narrator: Ultimately, you'll need to hand-pick , flowers to create just one pound of saffron.

The purple flowers only bloom over a 6-week period from late September to early December. There's also a specific time of day to harvest them. Ghalehgolabbehbahani: When we have a higher relative humidity in the air, it can affect the saffron quality. Also, sunlight can break the chemical structure in the saffron. So, we prefer to harvest the saffron early morning every day. But harvesting all of that saffron comes at a price. Ghalehgolabbehbahani: Why Iran is the main producer of saffron?

Because workers are available and they are cheap. I hate that, I should say. Based on my experience, they usually, workers came to the farm in Iran around 5, 6 a. Saffron is not only grown in Iran. Why the U. Though many Americans have never eaten saffron, the US imported 25 tons of the stuff in and 46 tons in Ghalehgolabbehbahani: I knew that saffron has a good resistance to the cold weather.

If you cover Vermont state with a layer of plastic, you will have the same situation that we have in Iran.

Narrator: What's so great about saffron? Over centuries, it's proven useful in many situations. Saffron is most commonly used in cooking. That's enough for 5 to 10 recipes, so it doesn't break down to be so expensive per meal. When purchasing saffron, buy it in an airtight, lightproof container, usually a tiny black bag or plastic box inside a larger container. And make sure it is, indeed, expensive. The "saffron" sold in large inexpensive packages in the Mexican section is marigold or calendula petals.

They are pretty, make food yellow and have many uses, but they don't taste like saffron. Ground saffron is usually cut with turmeric or other inferior ingredients.

Add the onions and salt and cook them until translucent, about 5 minutes. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat. Add the rice and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, letting the rice slightly stick to the bottom of the pan and scraping it off. It should also sound crackly. Season with salt and cook over a medium-high heat, stirring continuously until the wine has absorbed into the rice.

Add the saffron chicken stock to the pan until it covers the rice. Cook over a medium-high heat, stirring continuously until the stock has absorbed into the rice. When the third addition of the stock has absorbed and the rice is very creamy, bite a couple grains of rice to be sure it is cooked perfectly. Saffron is the most expensive spice on the market. The saffron flower has 6 purple petals, 3 golden yellow stamens and one red pistil which shows as 3 stigmas filaments.

It is the dried stigma of the flower which gives the spice saffron. The reason it is so expensive is because it comes from the saffron crocus bulb Crocus sativus which is an autumn blooming purple flower that originated in Greece. The weather. Growing saffron is not easy.