Saffron Most Expensive Spice
Saffron Most Expensive Spice
What is the price of saffron?
Saffron has been used to dye textiles, fragrance perfume, and taste food for thousands of years. Cleopatra, whose daily saffron-infused mare’s milk bath was claimed to have increased her famous beauty, added it to her baths to help treat battle wounds. A saffron bath would cost hundreds of dollars, so we won’t be able to test this food fact for ourselves. So, why is saffron so costly? Saffron is more valuable than caviar, truffles, premium vanilla beans, genuine Japanese wasabi, and any other luxury food. Saffron was once more expensive than gold in terms of weight. The pricey spice is worth every penny.
Why is saffron so precious?
Avoid overpaying for this spice. Saffron is costly for a reason.
Saffron threads are the stigmas in the core of the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus. In order to manufacture saffron, it takes many blooms, each with three orange-yellow stigmas. Between 15 and 20 thousand stigmas per pound of saffron. This flower would be required to grow 75 pounds of saffron! The high price of saffron is due to several factors. It’s best to hand-harvest the blossoms’ saffron threads. The saffron threads will wilt and become worthless if not harvested soon after the blossoms bloom. Harvesting saffron takes 370-470 hours.
Saffron blossoms
Saffron blossoms aren’t only delicate, but difficult to grow as well. Unlike other crops, they are sensitive to over-exposure to sunlight, over-watering, and cold weather. Saffron blooms are harvested in late October. To avoid damage from the heat of the midday sun, saffron threads must be harvested immediately after daybreak. When you add it all up, it becomes evident why saffron is so expensive. In addition, saffron can sell for $7, $15, or even more per gram. Because of the spice’s unique flavor, it is worth the price. If you can’t afford saffron threads, try a saffron-infused spice blend.
Cultivation of Saffron as a spice
They were first cultivated in either Iran or the Greek islands in the southwest. Traders, explorers, and expanding empires introduced saffron as a spice over the globe. Everything from chicken and curry to risotto and paella now uses it. It is now farmed mostly in Iran, India (the source of chai tea), Spain, and Greece. Iranian saffron grows 90% of the world’s 300 tons every year. A finer, more expensive saffron originates from Kashmir, India. It can fetch over $1500 per pound. (Actually.) In the future, climate change will undoubtedly increase the price of Kashmiri saffron. Saffron production in Kashmir has become problematic because of high temperatures, droughts, and prolonged periods of intense heat. Kashmir’s saffron production fell by approximately 70% between 2017 and 2018. The National Saffron Mission, established by the Indian government to assist salvage the faltering saffron business, has helped it recover slightly since.
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