ISO: ISO Source of saffron? Made Joe's Cavatappi al Vino tonite, delicious! (see 21252 above) but didn't

In Search Of:
M

marianne

Well-known member
have any saffron. The recipe is very good, made the full recipe of the sauce, with 1/2 lb of pasta shells (browned the sausage separately from the onion, to drain the sausage fat)

I know it would be even more delcious with saffron, but I was all out. I had previously purchased saffron on-line, but I can't find the source, and there are many sources listed when I Google Superior Saffron, which was the name of the company that I purchased from several years ago.

Any suggestions for where to find some good saffron are much appreciated. TIA

 
Are you anywhere near a Trader Joe's? They have decent saffron at a reasonable price

It's not as intense as the higher grades but you can just add a bit more. If all else fails you could use a pinch of turmeric.

I'm glad you tried the recipe and liked it!

 
I just used the last of my saffron and I will look at my Indian store Lana

but are you sure it's really saffron? I say that because when we were living outside the U.S. I always would go to the spice markets in India/Sri Lanka. I went to Sri Lanka most often and their spice prices were fantastic but what they sold as saffron was really turmeric but the people thought it was saffron. Most people couldn't afford real saffron. I'll check my little store here and see.

 
I'm pretty certain it's real saffron

It comes in strands, and it has an almost iodiney taste which is not at all like the turmeric I have used, or the marigold petals that I have also seen labeled saffron. It is in a sealed box labeled Sun Brand Spanish saffron.

I have just googled it (see link) and it's the same one sold on Amazon. I paid about $24 for a 5 g box, but that was a few months ago so it may have gone up as that is much less than Amazon's price.

Let me know if you want me to send you some from here.

http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Brand-Pure-Spanish-Saffron/dp/B004XTCE9E

 
That's the exact one I used to get while we were in Saudi Lana!

I will try to go tomorrow and see if this little store might have it and I'll do a little searching and see if there is another Indian store around. Good find Lana and if I can't find it here I might get you to pick some up for me. Big thanks!

 
I just got back from the closest store to me. Get this...I could walk to

it if my back wasn't so bad! It's Spanish. I just found out that there is a huge fight over what is the best saffron. Spanish or Persian. Huge nasty battle between the ministries of those countries. Who knew? Thanks Lana, I'm all set.

 
There's a lot of controversy about Iranian (Afghanistan, now) saffron vs. Spanish saffron...

Google for the debate. The link that Meryl gave me is to the place I bought the Iranian several years ago (saffron.com), and I liked it very much. I neglected to re-order before I made Joe's recipe.

There's also some chatter that Indian saffron is really turmeric. No Indian stores near me to check it out.

Saffron.com promotes the quality of Iranian saffron, but theirs is now from Afghanistan. I asked them why. They said that the US sanctions stopped the Iranian imports, but the Afghanistan saffron is the same quality. (Want to bet that it's really from Iran, re-labelled as from Afghanistan?)

Thanks for all your comments. Enjoyed the chat!

 
If you buy the threads instead of the powder, I don't think they can sneak in turmeric.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top