Autumn Crocus

Looking forward to the saffron harvest . . .

Autumn Crocus

The saffron crocus is blooming -- I almost always forget about it and am pleasantly surprised when it appears. I have one small clump this year -- I think there were originally three bulbs that I planted maybe fifteen years ago...

Saffron is said to be the most expensive spice -- and no wonder. See those bright red-orange stigmas -- three in each blossom?  It would take 50,000 to 75,000 flowers to produce a pound of dry saffron. Of course no one buys a pound at retail.  At retail, saffron sells in tiny amounts -- .06 ounce for $16.26 -- which would equal (if Wikipedia is to be trusted) $4,336 per pound. But if you're willing to spring for the entire pound, the price plummets to a mere $2,000 a pound, a veritable bargain!

These pale leafless apparitions below are a puzzlement. I don't think I've ever seen them before and I wonder if they are perhaps new saffron from divisions of an old bulb or what. If any of you know , please tell me. (I don't want to get all excited at the thought of more saffron if these are something else...)

 

In any event, here's the saffron harvest for 2013 -- our quality control officer is performing a meticulous inspection.

 

Looks like calligraphy from the mysterious East, doesn't it? 

Saffron

A lone Autumn crocus blooming in my entry way flower bed. See those lovely orange-red stigmas? This is a saffron crocus and it's dried stigmas like these that produce this pricey seasoning/coloring ingredient.

Saffron has a long, long history but is best known to me as an ingredient in Spanish cooking. I grew up in Tampa where Ybor City, the Latin Quarter, was the place to go for great food -- and arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) meant yellow rice, tinted with saffron and the less expensive anatto.

Seeing the saffron crocus blooming inspired this meal -- Yellow rice with black beans, fried tilapia and shrimp, roasted sweet potatoes with onions and cumin. And a green salad that didn't get in the photo. Apologies for the slightly out of focus picture -- it's a sin to let hot food go cold so I grab a shot and don't always take time to see if it was good. But the food was.