Use of saffron
From ancient to modern times the history of saffron is full of applications in food, drink, and traditional herbal medicine: from Africa and Asia to Europe and the Americas the brilliant red threads have long been prized in baking, curries, and liquor. It coloured textiles and other items and often helped confer the social standing of political elites and religious adepts. Ancient and medieval peoples believed saffron could be used to treat a wide range of ailments, from stomach upsets to the plague.
"Saffron, for example, was once less regarded than it is today because the crocus from which it is extracted was not particularly mysterious. It flourished in European locations extending from Asia Minor, where it originated, to Saffron Walden in England, where it was naturalised. Only subsequently, when its labour-intensive cultivation became largely centred in Kashmir, did it seem sufficiently exotic to qualify as one of the most precious of spices."[7]
Saffron crocus cultivation has long centered on a broad belt of Eurasia bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the southwest to India and China in the northeast. The major producers of antiquity—Iran, Spain, India, and Greece—continue to dominate the world trade.
The cultivation of saffron in the Americas was begun by members of the Schwenkfelder Church in Pennsylvania. In recent decades cultivation has spread to New Zealand, Tasmania, and California. Iran has accounted for around 90–93 percent of recent annual world production and thereby dominates the export market on a by-quantity basis.[citation needed]
Culinary use
Saffron features in European, North African, and Asian cuisines. Its aroma is described by taste experts as resembling that of honey, with woody, hay-like, and earthy notes; according to another such assessment, it tastes of hay, but only with bitter hints. Because it imparts a luminous yellow-orange hue, it is used worldwide in everything from cheeses, confectioneries, and liquors to baked goods, curries, meat dishes, and soups. In past eras, many dishes called for prohibitively copious amounts—hardly for taste, but to parade their wealth.[8]
In Kashmir, saffron is used in kehva or kahwa, an aromatic beverage made from saffron, almonds, walnuts, cardamom etc. It is also used in Kashmiri marriage and occasional cuisine namely Wazwan, where chicken is cooked in its heated aromatic solution, and the dish is known as konge kokur in local language.
Because of its high cost saffron was often replaced by or diluted with
Threads are a popular condiment for rice in Spain and Iran, India and Pakistan, and other countries. Two examples of such saffron rice is the zarzuela fish-seafood stew and paella valenciana, a piquant rice-meat preparation. It is essential in making the French bouillabaisse, which is a spicy fish stew from Marseilles, and the Italian risotto alla milanese.
The saffron bun has Swedish and Cornish variants and in Swedish is known as lussekatt (literally "Lucy cat", after Saint Lucy) or lussebulle. The latter is a rich yeast dough bun that is enhanced with saffron, along with cinnamon or nutmeg and currants. They are typically eaten during Advent, and especially on Saint Lucy's Day. In England, the saffron "revel buns" were traditionally baked for anniversary feasts (revels) or for church dedications. In the West of Cornwall, large saffron "tea treat buns" signify Methodist Sunday School outings and activities.
In traditional dishes of La Mancha, Spain, the spice is almost ubiquitous.[11]
Moroccans use saffron in many salty or sweet-and salty dishes. It is a key recipe in the chermoula herb mixture that flavors many Moroccan dishes. Due to its high price, it is mostly used while cooking for special occasions as well as in some Moroccan high-end recipes like the pastilla. Other Moroccan dishes cooked with saffron include some types of tajines, kefta (meatballs with tomato), mqualli (a citron-chicken dish), and mrouzia (succulent lamb dressed with plums and almonds).[12]
Uzbeks use it in a special rice-based offering known as "wedding
Colouring
There have been many attempts to replace saffron with a cheaper dye. Saffron's usual substitutes in food—turmeric and safflower, among others—yield a garishly bright yellow that could hardly be confused with that of saffron. Saffron's main colourant is the carotenoid crocin; it has been discovered in the less tediously harvested—and hence less costly—gardenia fruit. Research in China is ongoing.[17]
Perfumery
In Europe saffron threads were a key component of an aromatic oil known as crocinum, which comprised such motley ingredients as alkanet, dragon's blood (for colour), and wine (again for colour). Crocinum was applied as a perfume to hair. Another preparation involved mixing saffron with wine to produce a viscous yellow spray; it was copiously applied in sudoriferously sunny Roman amphitheatres—as an air freshener.[18]
See also
Notes
Citations
- ^ Deo 2003, p. 1.
- ^ Raghavan 2006, p. 161.
- ^ Rubio-Moraga et al. 2009.
- ^ Grigg 1974, p. 287.
- ^ Hill 2004, p. 272.
- ^ a b McGee 2004, p. 422.
- ^ Keay (2005), pp. 19–20.
- ^ a b Hill 2004, p. 275.
- ^ Negbi 1999, p. 59.
- ^ Willard 2002, p. 203.
- Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Archivedfrom the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ "Essential Moroccan Spices for Moroccan Cooking - Moroccan Zest". Moroccan Zest. 11 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ Kesari is the Kannada word for Saffron
- ^ Willard 2002, p. 205.
- ^ Major 1892, p. 49.
- ^ PMID 21284446.
- ^ Dharmananda 2005.
- ^ Dalby 2002, p. 138.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-520-23674-5
- Deo, B. (2003), "Growing Saffron—The World's Most Expensive Spice" (PDF), Crop and Food Research, no. 20, New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research, archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2005, retrieved 10 January 2006
- Dharmananda, S. (2005), "Saffron: An Anti-Depressant Herb", Institute for Traditional Medicine, archived from the original on 26 September 2006, retrieved 10 January 2006
- Grigg, D. B. (1974), The Agricultural Systems of the World (1st ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-09843-4
- Hill, T. (2004), The Contemporary Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices: Seasonings for the Global Kitchen (1st ed.), Wiley, ISBN 978-0-471-21423-6
- Kafi, M.; Koocheki, A.; Rashed, M. H.; Nassiri, M., eds. (2006), Saffron (Crocus sativus) Production and Processing (1st ed.), Science Publishers, ISBN 978-1-57808-427-2
- Major, J. (1892), "A History of Greater Britain as well England as Scotland", Publications of the Scottish History Society, vol. 10, University Press
- ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1
- Negbi, M., ed. (1999), Saffron: Crocus sativusL., CRC Press, ISBN 978-90-5702-394-1
- Raghavan, S. (2006), "Saffron", Handbook of Spices, Seasonings, and Flavorings (2 ed.), ISBN 978-0-8493-2842-8
- Rubio-Moraga, A.; Castillo-López, R.; Gómez-Gómez, L.; Ahrazem, O. (2009), "Saffron Is a Monomorphic Species as Revealed by RAPD, ISSR, and Microsatellite Analyses", BMC Research Notes, vol. 2, p. 189, PMID 19772674
- Willard, P. (2002), Secrets of Saffron: The Vagabond Life of the World's Most Seductive Spice, Beacon Press, ISBN 978-0-8070-5009-5
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