The CookingBites recipe challenge: saffron

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Morning Glory said:
Timenspace, I learned today that saffron is grown in Croatia: Most expensive spice in the world grown on Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast
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I found out yesterday that saffron is also an important ingredient in Amish/Mennonite cooking (so I must have eaten some at some point), and it is grown in and around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

This is an older article, but still interesting:

Meet One of the Last Pennsylvania Families Growing American Saffron

That said, I never saw my grandmother (Mennonite) use it or try and grow it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I guess that means I get to try out a new-to-me ingredient and make something I’m familiar with, all at the same time!
 
Lots of interesting things about saffron.
The largest producer in the world (by far) is Iran, followed my India, Morocco, Spain and Italy. Saffron is still harvested by hand and involves removing the 3 stigma from inside the flower, at a specific time of maturity (I'm sure SatNavSaysStraightOn knows far more about that than I do). Science varies on how many stigmata it takes to make a kilo, but it's probably somewhere between 100,000 - 200,000.
Just a word of warning,as it were; avoid a common Turkish substitute called safflower. It gives colour, is far cheaper, but the flavour is never there. And NEVER buy saffron in powder; look for the strands.
 
TastyReuben said:
Well, I have a bag of cod pieces.
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Ok, I’m re-reading this, and I should have worded that as “pieces of cod.”

Pieces of cod:
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Allrecipes

Codpieces:
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The only thing is that you can't or shouldn't use too much of it, or else your food will taste like medicine!!! :eek: :eek:
 
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TastyReuben said:
guess that means I get to try out a new-to-me ingredient and make something I’m familiar with, all at the same time!
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What a good article, informative and packed with data! Thanks for sharing!

Saffron is deeply embedded, so it seems, even into their 'nickname' Yellow Dutch ( Deutsch), how fascinating!
 
I may be talking rubbish here as !'ve never had a cocktail with saffron but perhaps to those who have not used saffron before its not best place to start. I reckon it would be difficult to balance the taste and you might end up with something medcinal tasting which might put you off forever. Much better to start with a simple dish like the wonderful 'saffy mash' which is super easy to make and the mashed potato tempers the saffron taste.

Simon Hopkinson’s saffron mash
 
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