At Penzey's Spices I copped 1/2 gram, yes ONE-HALF GRAM for $9. They also have 1/4 ounce for $82. Apparently I have never eaten real saffron and Mahatma rice is bullshitting.

5/21/2011 7:11:50 PM

cool discovery

5/21/2011 7:13:46 PM

i'm just mad about saffron?

5/21/2011 7:14:03 PM

Shit's made from flower vaginas

5/21/2011 7:17:38 PM

I pop truffles like grapes. You chumps need to step your game up

5/21/2011 7:17:54 PM

^^ Yep and it needs to be hand picked and processed. That shit is labor intensive, son.

5/21/2011 7:18:38 PM

Well it is one of the more valuable spices in the world.

SHIT IS NO JOKE.

5/21/2011 7:22:14 PM

when I make Seafood Paella I use real saffron. With fresh lobster, shrimp, and clams, and muscles I spend well over $100 to make a large pan.

girls love it though, one of the few dishes i can cook

[Edited on May 21, 2011 at 7:24 PM. Reason : actually easily over $150 with everything.]

5/21/2011 7:24:11 PM

Shits legit yo. I also got some anise powder, should have got the extract though, so I can make some cookies. I need a good recipe that calls for the powder not the extract.

5/21/2011 7:25:23 PM

^Haha, my mom would do the same thing. She was like "If you're going to make paella, you don't skimp. Do it the right way."

Little too rich for my blood, though.

5/21/2011 7:25:41 PM

^^ You can use the powder in cookies

5/21/2011 7:26:32 PM

I would like to make that seafood dish at least once!

I feel like spice baller, since I dropped like 30 bucks in that store like a g6.

And I am drinking homemade cardamom coffee as I post :with pinky in the air:

[Edited on May 21, 2011 at 7:29 PM. Reason : /]

5/21/2011 7:26:35 PM

[Edited on May 21, 2011 at 7:27 PM. Reason : /]

5/21/2011 7:27:31 PM

a jar of it is $5.99 at Trader Joes. I don't know if the quality is comparable and if it is considered REAL.

5/21/2011 7:34:46 PM

the key to paella is not stirring the rice, I've watched too many people stir the rice while its cooking. you want it a little crisp on the edges, leave it be.

5/21/2011 7:36:55 PM

^^ I got Coupe Grade saffron from Spain.

And it's REAL

[Edited on May 21, 2011 at 7:38 PM. Reason : /]

5/21/2011 7:37:59 PM

I <3 Penzey's

5/21/2011 7:38:30 PM

^ That's what I was confused about... what is relatively cheap saffron then if not the real thing?

I remember doing a report that mentioned saffron in 8th grade, and mom suggested I bring some in, and she had a bag full of the cheaper stuff (it was a global thing, we needed to have a box of items). All I remember is being confused about the drastic variation in prices with what she had...

5/21/2011 7:39:11 PM

COUPE GRADE

[Edited on May 21, 2011 at 7:40 PM. Reason : /]

5/21/2011 7:40:00 PM

Quote :

"I feel like spice baller, since I dropped like 30 bucks in that store like a g6."

Whenever I hear that song I think they're saying "Like a cheese stick."

Quote :

"Saffron is graded via laboratory measurement of crocin (colour), picrocrocin (taste), and safranal (fragrance) content. Determination of non-stigma content ("floral waste content") and other extraneous matter such as inorganic material ("ash") are also key. Grading standards are set by the International Organization for Standardization, a federation of national standards bodies. ISO 3632 deals exclusively with saffron and establishes four empirical colour intensity grades: IV (poorest), III, II, and I (finest quality). Samples are assigned grades by gauging the spice's crocin content, revealed by measurements of crocin-specific spectroscopic absorbance. Absorbance is defined as A? = - log(I / I0), with A? as absorbance (Beer-Lambert law) and indicates degree of transparency (I / I0, the ratio of light intensity exiting the sample to that of the incident light) to a given wavelength of light. Graders measure absorbances of 440-nm light by dry saffron samples.[90] Higher absorbances imply greater crocin concentration, and thus a greater colourative intensity. These data are measured through spectrophotometry reports at certified testing laboratories worldwide. These colour grades proceed from grades with absorbances lower than 80 (for all category IV saffron) up to 190 or greater (for category I). The world's finest samples (the selected most red-maroon tips of stigmas picked from the finest flowers) receive absorbance scores in excess of 250. Market prices for saffron types follow directly from these ISO scores.[90] However, many growers, traders, and consumers reject such lab test numbers. They prefer a more holistic method of sampling batches of thread for taste, aroma, pliability, and other traits in a fashion similar to that practiced by practised wine tasters.[91] Despite such attempts at quality control and standardisation, an extensive history of saffron adulteration—particularly among the cheapest grades—continues into modern times. Adulteration was first documented in Europe's Middle Ages, when those found selling adulterated saffron were executed under the Safranschou code.[92] Typical methods include mixing in extraneous substances like beets, pomegranate fibers, red-dyed silk fibers, or the saffron crocus's tasteless and odorless yellow stamens. Other methods included dousing saffron fibers with viscid substances like honey or vegetable oil. However, powdered saffron is more prone to adulteration, with turmeric, paprika, and other powders used as diluting fillers. Adulteration can also consist of selling mislabeled mixes of different saffron grades.[51] Thus, in India, high-grade Kashmiri saffron is often sold and mixed with cheaper Iranian imports; these mixes are then marketed as pure Kashmiri saffron, a development that has cost Kashmiri growers much of their income.[93][94]"

That's actually really interesting about the grading of saffron.

5/21/2011 7:52:29 PM

i get grams for $55

5/21/2011 7:57:58 PM

I GOT THAT ARCHIE BUNKER

5/21/2011 8:04:02 PM

dude, it is the most expensive spice.

duh

5/21/2011 8:06:04 PM

I also got some allspice, bavarian seasoning, and chipotle. My weekend has been good because if this serendipitous discovery.

5/21/2011 8:09:01 PM

in one of my botany classes, one of the professors gave away a bag of saffron as a prize for some crazy attendance game - it was the second biggest prize all semester (the first was when he gave away alcohol)

5/21/2011 8:17:12 PM

But was it Coupe Grade??

5/21/2011 8:22:16 PM

i fucking love saffron

5/22/2011 12:42:32 AM

buying saffron powder (which is what you'll be getting at trader joes for such a low price) is entirely different from buying saffron stigmas (which is what you get in the insanely expensive spice jars).

I bought 3 ounces of saffron stigmas in Tanzania for ~60 dollars US. I bought 3.5 ounces of saffron powder there for ~5 bucks US.

5/22/2011 4:04:13 AM

Harris Teeter sells a jar of saffron stigmas with four small thimbles of stigmas in each jar. It's .01 oz and it's 20 dollars. It's probably still Grade II, but that's pretty close to the best you can get in a supermarket.

5/22/2011 4:36:23 PM

5/22/2011 4:39:16 PM

I need to get into the crocus business.

5/22/2011 4:46:34 PM

I got 0.02 oz from Penzey's for $9, but they are a spice specialty shop it it should be cheaper there than in the grocery store. And it's Grade I (Coupe), according the labeling.

5/22/2011 5:02:50 PM

saffron succatash

5/22/2011 5:04:32 PM

We've got Saffron in our cubbard that my husband bought from the spice market in Turkey

the label on the bottom of the box says "packaged before Febuary 2004" and "best before end of 2012"

[Edited on May 22, 2011 at 5:43 PM. Reason : f]

5/22/2011 5:41:35 PM

He got ganked.

5/22/2011 5:57:01 PM

^^ Paella party???

5/23/2011 12:30:49 AM

Hey seedless what grade saffron did you get

5/23/2011 1:15:51 AM

I'm pretty pleased with the vanilla and saffron I got from http://www.Saffron.com


at the time, one of the cheaper places around for vanilla beans.

[Edited on May 23, 2011 at 2:26 AM. Reason : oh yeah, saffron is a carcinogen]

5/23/2011 2:25:57 AM

how has no one made The price of REAL vagina is RIDICULOUS

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

5/23/2011 3:23:54 AM

^^^ Coupe grade, which is another name for Grade I, the highest on the scale with an ISO score >190.

5/23/2011 7:26:55 AM

Green Jay, you just reminded me I need to order vanilla for this year's Christmas presents soon.

5/23/2011 8:50:37 AM

i'm still unclear on what grade of saffron seedless got

5/23/2011 9:01:38 AM

how long do the "good" pure stigmas last

forever like normal spices?

[Edited on May 23, 2011 at 9:32 AM. Reason : sp]

5/23/2011 9:32:24 AM

Whole spices last about four years. Ground spices about two. Herbs around the same. Really if it smells good, it probably is good.

5/23/2011 9:50:01 AM

At least youre not sailing around in wooden ships eating salted pork to get it.

5/23/2011 10:55:40 AM

Quote :

"i'm still unclear on what grade of saffron seedless got"

What?

5/23/2011 7:36:37 PM