With a subtle aroma that is difficult to detect, let alone taste or articulate, saffron is not your everyday condiment – and at a price higher than any other spice in the world, it’s hardly an ingredient for everyday use. But chefs assert that once one learns to appreciate the nuances of
saffron, there’s nothing quite like it, whether used in paella, risotto or even vodka.

Saffron comes in inch-long strands, the stigmas of a low growing, bright purple flower known to botanists as Crocus sativus. Saffron is grown primarily in Iran, while Spain, Greece, India and other nations produce the balance of the crop, which totaled approximately 300 tons worldwide in 2007. Harvest occurs in the fall, when laborers bend their backs for painstaking hours to pluck away at fields of the flowers, shielding their delicate strands from the wind. Each blossom bears just three fiery red stigmas, and approximately 14,000 make an ounce. The nature of this labor-heavy, low-yield industry necessitates high prices; in local retail stores, dried saffron sells for approximately $60 per ounce (yes, that’s almost $1,000 per pound).

Saffron’s lengthy history suggests that it is worthy of its luxury price tag. The flower was first noted for its brilliant hue millennia ago. Wise men of the day supposedly saw it as the encapsulation of the sun’s light and energy (questionable), while others thought it bore medicinal and strengthening powers (more likely). Saffron is even believed today to possess some anti-cancer properties (though the jury’s still out on that).

Saffron held obvious potency as a coloring agent, and was used to make ink, dyes and to add its yellow hue to food. The vibrant herb gained popularity in kitchens around the world before ultimately taking the throne as the king of spices. Shoppers may balk at the steep price, but a little saffron goes a long way – just a dozen strands or less can turn a large crock of broth or risotto a brilliant yellow.

But there’s much more to saffron than just its color. “If you’re using it for its color alone, then you’re not getting the best of it,” says Robert Sapirman, executive chef at Parcel 104 in Santa Clara. Though Sapirman aims to source all his ingredients from within 104 bird-miles of his restaurant, he makes an exception for saffron, which he sources from Spain. The flavor and aroma of saffron, he says, can provide layers of depth and complexity, most apparent as a “strawlike, dried grass scent... It’s not wonderful sounding, but that dried earth aroma is very warming and it draws you in.”

Fabrice Roux, executive chef at the recently opened Joya Restaurant in Palo Alto, prepares Latin American and Spanish cuisine. Paella, he says, would not be the same without saffron. Yet describing what the spice tastes like remains a “tricky” task. Roux compares the essence to honey, but adds that it works best in savory dishes. 

Daly City fungi purveyor Todd Spanier, aka the King of Mushrooms, carries saffron in four-ounce tins. He not only agrees that the spice is almost impossible to describe (“Saffron is saffron, and it sure doesn’t taste like chicken”), but compares the intoxicating mystique of saffron to that of truffles (another gourmet subtlety that many are at a loss to appreciate). Saffron, he feels, represents the upper tiers of gourmet dining, where every bite is a sensory experience to be savored.

Methods differ from chef to chef in how best to draw the flavors from saffron. Daniel Patino, executive chef at Michael Mina’s Arcadia in Downtown San Jose, says that saffron requires a good simmer (30 minutes or more) to coax its deepest nuances out of hiding. Spanier, on the other hand, believes the delicate properties of saffron can be lost if cooked for too long; hence, he prefers adding saffron toward the end of the stove time. Sapirman makes much ado about prepping the spice, steeping it in several cups of water for 20 minutes before simmering it down to a condensed reduction, which he recently used in a lobster sauce and a mussel puree.

Like wine aficionados, the saffron savvy claim that nation of origin can determine the quality of the product. At A.G. Ferrari Foods in Sunnyvale, a gourmet deli and retailer of fine Italian foodstuffs, the staff says that Italians handle saffron with more care than any other nationality. Spanier, dubious about such generalizations, sources saffron picked in southern Spain, while chefs Roux, Sapirman and Patino also favor Spanish grown saffron.

A few strands are even harvested in the United States. Mike Sherwood of Sub Rosa Spirits in Dundee, Ore. (near Portland) grows a 50-square-foot plot of saffron for an annual crop of five grams. Sherwood infuses the saffron, along with cumin, coriander and ginger, into vodka, and advises that it makes a killer Bloody Mary.

Those wishing to dabble with saffron at home should purchase it only in airtight packages that contain strands that appear unbroken and undamaged (a sign of freshness, says the pros). Some powdered saffron may be blended with ground turmeric or paprika, so read the fine print before dropping the dough.

Saffron is a sensory experience on multiple levels. You’ll see it first, smell it second and taste it last. Just don’t fret if you can’t put its faint essence into words – you’re in good company.

WHERE TO DINE

Arcadia, San Jose Marriott, 301 S. Market St., San Jose (408) 278-4555 www.michaelmina.net/mm_arcadia
Joya Restaurant, 339 University Ave., Palo Alto (650) 853-9800 www.joyarestaurant.com
Parcel 104, Santa Clara Marriott, 2700 Mission College Blvd., Santa Clara (408) 970-6104 www.parcel104.com

WHERE TO BUY

A.G. Ferrari Foods, 304 W. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale (408) 524-4000; 295 Main St., Los Altos (650) 947-7930; 200 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto (650) 752-0900 www.agferrari.com • sells saffron and saffron-infused pasta
King of Mushrooms, Call (650) 757-6910 or email info@kingofmushrooms.com, www.kingofmushrooms.com • sells saffron
K&L Wine Merchants, 3005 El Camino Real, Redwood City (650) 364-8544 www.klwines.com• sells Sub Rosa Spirits saffron-infused vodka
Shopper’s Corner, 622 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz (831) 423-1398 www.shopperscorner.com • sells Sub Rosa Spirits saffron-infused vodka

*This Article appeared in Volume 8, Issue 21 of The Wave Magazine.