How to Cook With Saffron
Cooking with saffron is like painting with the most expensive pain available in the market. Saffron is considered to be the most expensive spice in the world, that whatever it touches, it turns it into a golden color.
The small red threads of the saffron flower known as Crocus Sativa; once the flower stigmas are dried, saffron is produced. Saffron is mostly cultivated in Iran, Spain, and India. However, it is also cultivated in Italy, Afghanistan, and France. There are many reasons why saffron is expensive. Still, perhaps one of the most major reasons behind it is, every saffron flower only produces three threads, and due to the sensitivity of saffron flowers, they must be handpicked.
In addition, saffron flowers bloom once a year, and they have to be harvested during a small window and dried using traditional methods.
How to Buy Iranian Saffron
When you are in the market to buy Iranian saffron, which is considered to be the best saffron in the market, you have to look for a few things. Look for dark-red color, unbroken strands with little to no yellow filaments. If you can, avoid buying powdered saffron since it is very easy to be mixed with turmeric or other spices and make it look like premium quality saffron. Or, if you wish to buy powdered saffron, make sure you buy it directly from a saffron manufacturer. In our previous article, we have mentioned how to spot fake saffron.
How to Cook With Saffron
So, now that you have purchased Iranian saffron, how to cook with saffron? Saffron can be additive to any dishes as well as drink. But keep in mind not to overuse it as it may change the whole flavor of the dish that you are adding saffron to. Especially when it comes down to using Iranian saffron, it has too much flavor and color, and you don’t want the dish to become unbalanced flavor-wise.
There are a few recipes that you can use saffron in; for example, you can cook saffron rice, saffron tea, saffron milk, saffron curry, saffron water. No matter in what dish you add saffron to, it will always add amazing flavor to the dish.
Saffron Water
To make the perfect saffron water, you will need saffron threads, water, and ice. First things first, grab a jar that you would like to make the saffron water in. Pour water into it, add your ice afterward, and then add a pinch of Iranian saffron threads to the jar and put them in the fridge for around 6 hours. Then, your drink is ready. When the time’s up, you can either remove the saffron threads or leave them be.
Saffron Tea
Saffron tea is best used when it’s hot. However, you can also use it cold it totally depends on your taste. As you probably may know already, after coffee, tea is the most popular drink in the world, and there are tons of recipes that you can use to make the perfect tea that you like.
To make saffron tea, you are going to need tea leaves, water, and premium quality saffron threads. Boil up around one liter of hot water, which is 4 cups. Pour the hot water into your favorite teapot and add your tea leaves as well as 10-12 saffron threads to it. Give it a good 15 minutes so that the saffron can release both its flavor and color into the mixture. Then, your tea is ready. Grab your favorite teacup and pour yourself a nice cup of saffron tea.
How to Store Saffron
So, how would you store saffron? Saffron must be kept in an airtight container and in a dark corner that is not exposed to sunlight or high humidity as it would ruin the saffron. Also, you shouldn’t store the saffron in a refrigerator unit as it may release flavor and color.
Conclusion
In this article, we discussed how to cook with saffron. The Iranian saffron is considered to be the best saffron that you can find anywhere in the world. Currently, the Iranians supply over 90% of the saffron in the world. Saffron can be used as an additive to your food and beverages. For example, you can use saffron to make saffron tea, saffron milk, saffron water, saffron rice, pasta, eggs, etc.
