# That cost me 16 bucks!? (Saffron) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510 "2009-02-05T01:57:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/1 "2009-02-05T01:57:22Z")
If that stuff doesnt get me really high, I’m going to be pissed. Seriously, I figured it would at least have a pretty strong odor or something, but it’s not really aromatic at all. It’s just a tiny little bit of a flower. What will this stuff really do to the flavor of what I cook. What makes it worth the price I paid? (Assuming, it doesn’t get me really high.) ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/2 "2009-02-05T01:59:59Z")
If it’s not aromatic you got shitty saffron. It’s expensive because you only get a few threads per flower. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/3 "2009-02-05T02:02:32Z")
It takes a very small amount to have a relatively large flavor effect on whatever you’re cooking, even if it doesn’t have much of a scent. What makes it so frickin’ expensive is that it’s the dried stigma of a certain type of crocus: each flower only produces three of those teensy little threads, so your 16 bucks worth is essentially the cost of you having purchased a dozen relatively exotic flowers. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/4 "2009-02-05T02:11:52Z")
150 flowers to produce 1 gram of dried saffron. [Saffron.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/5 "2009-02-05T02:12:49Z")
I love Saffron rice. The Saffron imparts a subtle but unmistakable flavor. I don’t think psychoactive properties can be ascribed to it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/6 "2009-02-05T02:32:14Z")
You can buy an ounce of Miralles Spanish saffron for about $65. Doesn’t sound like a lot of saffron, but in reality it will last you a very long time. It only takes a pinch or two for a pot of rice. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/7 "2009-02-05T02:59:03Z")
As noted, saffron is great in rice, but it also does wonderful things to mashed potatoes. It just takes a little bit. Dissolve it in the liquid you will use to cook the rice or the milk/cream/broth you will use when you mash the potatoes. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/8 "2009-02-05T03:51:23Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > If that stuff doesnt get me really high, I’m going to be pissed. So you’re mad about saffron? sorry ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/9 "2009-02-05T04:00:16Z")
Saffron is expensive, but you only need to use a little bit at a time, so per dish it’s not that much more than most spices. ---
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/10 "2009-02-05T04:03:06Z")
_snerk_ Thanks for that, **St. Urho**. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/11 "2009-02-05T05:46:46Z")
I’m here to help 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/12 "2009-02-05T05:55:42Z")
Did you have to ask for the saffron bottle at the customer service counter? I did. Felt like I was buying heroin. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/13 "2009-02-05T14:59:06Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Did you have to ask for the saffron bottle at the customer service counter? I did. Felt like I was buying heroin. Seriously? Saffron is in the impulse buy position (at the register with the tabloids and the candy) around here. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/14 "2009-02-05T15:18:30Z")
The cost is so high that I’m surprised anybody would buy it in a grocery store and take a chance on it being either over the hill or not the good stuff. Also, beware of websites that purport to sell you powdered saffron at a very cheap price. It’s likely to be a bit of saffron mixed with a lot of tumeric. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/15 "2009-02-05T15:49:07Z")
I bought the saffron at Penzies online store. I assume it’s decent, but it really doesn’t have a very strong smell. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/16 "2009-02-05T15:57:03Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > What makes it so frickin’ expensive is that it’s the dried stigma of a certain type of crocus: each flower only produces three of those teensy little threads, so your 16 bucks worth is essentially the cost of you having purchased a dozen relatively exotic flowers. Plus the hours and hours of laborious manual labor to extract the threads from the flowers. (My Persian girlfriend is very proud of her country’s export industries, and has showed me lots of pictures of villagers picking through huge bushels of blossoms to produce small bowls of finished saffron product. Highly work intensive, repetitive and boring, and even at a few cents an hour, after dozens of hours, it does add up.) ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/17 "2009-02-05T16:33:12Z")
Odd that this should crop up today. We’re in a rented / borrowed house at the moment. It’s normally rented short term to people on holiday, all of whom seem to buy new kitchen supplies. The owner told us to work through as much of it as we could. This included a jar of good looking saffron. My girlfriend thought a pinch of this would add some nice colour and flavour to a whole boiled chicken. Except her hand slipped . . . So tonight I am having chicken that has been simmering in about 30g of saffron for half a day. It smells divine. I shall report back on taste ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/18 "2009-02-05T16:40:06Z")
Here it’s in the same section as the regular spice rack, in a regular small glass spice container, only containing mostly air, just a few sealed packages of really tiny spice. And still costing more than the regular, full, spice containers. ETA: here = central florida. Don’t know how it’s packaged in the Hotel de la Muerte. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/19 "2009-02-05T16:52:40Z")
Having just looked at my recipe, I wonder if anyone can tell me what a “_tola_ of _kessar_” is? Apparently, “_kessar_” is the word for saffron in whatever language this is in. Does anyone speak Punjab (I’m guessing it’s Punjab)? **Cervaise** , maybe your girlfreind knows something here? It’s funny, this recipe translated some things but not others. Anyone know what a "_chittak_ is? The recipe calls for a “_chittak_ of _laung_”. “_Laung_” being the word for cloves. I will be scaling this recipe back quite a bit. I’m just guessing that a recipe calling for a pound of cumin seed is a little bit large for two people. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510/20 "2009-02-05T19:47:04Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > Having just looked at my recipe, I wonder if anyone can tell me what a “_tola_ of _kessar_” is? Apparently, “_kessar_” is the word for saffron in whatever language this is in. Does anyone speak Punjab (I’m guessing it’s Punjab)? **Cervaise** , maybe your girlfreind knows something here? > > It’s funny, this recipe translated some things but not others. Anyone know what a "_chittak_ is? The recipe calls for a “_chittak_ of _laung_”. “_Laung_” being the word for cloves. [This post](http://www.lojban.org/sv/lists/lojban-list/msg27701.html) on a message board somewhere seems to suggest that tola and chittak are part of a different system of measures, so they wouldn’t be words that can be translated. So it would be more a matter of converting to a more familiar system of measure. I found this: [1 tola gold equals to how many grams? - Answers](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_grams_are_there_in_a_tola) > [@](#): > > 1 tola weighs 11.664 grams and this: [Site en construction](http://www.unitsconvert.com/units/MASS.html) > [@](#): > > tola : 1/5 chittak which would make a chittak about 58.32 grams. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-cost-me-16-bucks-saffron/484510.md?page=2)