I promised to detail my first known saffron encounter, so here goes (though it was 24 hours ago, so I’ve forgotten a lot of it).
First of all, opening the jar (and then the little packet inside), I don’t know why, but I held my breath - I think it was because of all the reading I’ve done, and how so many sources mention saffron smells somewhat like honey…and I don’t like the smell of honey all all. Turns my stomach.
MrsT was grabbing a bottle of water, and she instantly caught a whiff of it - “What’s that?! It smells really strong.”
I asked her what it smelled like, and she said, ”Flowers and honey…but kind of sour or tangy or something like that.”
I timidly gave a little sniff, picked up that honey-like note, and stopped. Enough for me, but MrsT said she thought it had a beautifully floral perfume.
Different strokes, I s’pose.
Moving on to actually using it, I needed a little less than half a teaspoon of it crushed, so I pulled out a little pinch, heeding the warnings that a little goes a long way, crushed it up between my thumb and forefinger, looked at it and said, “That’s like…maybe a sixteenth of a teaspoon!”
It took forever, and I think I’ve used most of the saffron I bought (it was a very small packet in that jar), but I finally got what felt close to what was required, but it was…frustrating getting up to the right amount.
Another thing was that the color, when I was working with it, reminded me a lot of when I was a kid and would get a scrape and Mom would break out the iodine dropper. They seem to share a similar color profile, and for some reason, I was very concerned about staining anything I touched or got it on.
Last comment - the final results were excellent and I was quite excited when that soup came together and looked so much more vibrant and rich, compared to what I’d made before, and the taste followed through.
In that way, it’s much like honey is for me - rather disgusting by itself in its raw form, but a stellar part of a larger cast of ingredients.
Picking up some more on Thursday.
First of all, opening the jar (and then the little packet inside), I don’t know why, but I held my breath - I think it was because of all the reading I’ve done, and how so many sources mention saffron smells somewhat like honey…and I don’t like the smell of honey all all. Turns my stomach.
MrsT was grabbing a bottle of water, and she instantly caught a whiff of it - “What’s that?! It smells really strong.”
I asked her what it smelled like, and she said, ”Flowers and honey…but kind of sour or tangy or something like that.”
I timidly gave a little sniff, picked up that honey-like note, and stopped. Enough for me, but MrsT said she thought it had a beautifully floral perfume.
Different strokes, I s’pose.
Moving on to actually using it, I needed a little less than half a teaspoon of it crushed, so I pulled out a little pinch, heeding the warnings that a little goes a long way, crushed it up between my thumb and forefinger, looked at it and said, “That’s like…maybe a sixteenth of a teaspoon!”
It took forever, and I think I’ve used most of the saffron I bought (it was a very small packet in that jar), but I finally got what felt close to what was required, but it was…frustrating getting up to the right amount.
Another thing was that the color, when I was working with it, reminded me a lot of when I was a kid and would get a scrape and Mom would break out the iodine dropper. They seem to share a similar color profile, and for some reason, I was very concerned about staining anything I touched or got it on.
Last comment - the final results were excellent and I was quite excited when that soup came together and looked so much more vibrant and rich, compared to what I’d made before, and the taste followed through.
In that way, it’s much like honey is for me - rather disgusting by itself in its raw form, but a stellar part of a larger cast of ingredients.
Picking up some more on Thursday.
