Typical in Italy in the preparation of rice arancini and Milanese risotto, and in many parts of the world for other dishes, it saffron It is a much loved spice and very precious.
Saffron is in fact one of the most expensive spices in the world: this is for various reasons, ranging from harvesting, drying, conservation and storage. Consider that to produce 1 kg of product it can take up to 150000 flowersLet’s see together what is the combination of factors that makes this very famous spice reach the price of 60,000 euros per kg if completely handmade.
What Makes Saffron So Expensive
The production of saffron is extremely delicate and, as we will see, each phase presents critical issues that lead to an increase in its value.
Cultivation
There cultivation of the saffron flower requires a huge work and special attention, and it is precisely these conditions that make the final product very expensive. For the whole supply chain the work must be done by hand, because, precisely because of the delicacy of all the operations, it is not possible to mechanize it; This one too labor It increases the price and gives value to the final product.
Collection
The flower from which saffron comes is called Crocus sativushas purple petals and blooms between October and Novemberin fact it only lasts a month and a half (the only period, therefore, in which it is possible to carry out the collection). The flower should be picked very early in the morning, preferably at dawnbefore it opens its petals, so that it best preserves the freshness of the stigmas (or pistils – the male sexual part of the flower), which will then be the only parts of the flower that will be used to obtain the spice.
Withering and drying
After harvesting, the stigmas must be separated from the rest of the flower, this process is called withering or even cleaningIt is a very delicate phase because the flower is very fragile and therefore It must be done strictly by hand. The stigmas must then be dried by controlling humidity and temperature of the place where the drying takes place. This process causes the loss of approximately80% of the weight of the product. Some producers dry it in the sun, especially in hot places, but this detracts from the quality of the product because the conditions are not stable and controllable throughout the process. The final quality of the saffron therefore depends on this step.
When the drying phase ends, the stigmas must rest for a month before being consumed. In all this, conditions such as whether to use fertilizers and which ones, the phases of crop rotation and the conditions of the cultivated soil must also be evaluated. Above all, the drying phase influences three compounds of saffron that indicate its quality, in particular those molecules that confer the organoleptic properties: crocetin, crocin, picrocrocin and safranal. These four molecules all come from carotenoids (exactly those molecules found in carrots and which give them their colour). Crocetin and crocin give the color typical of saffron, picrocrocin is responsible for the taste slightly bitter and the safranal is what gives the characteristic and intense odor to this spice. A quality saffron has a very high intensity of these molecules.
It has been estimated that for just 1 kg of product, 150000 flowers And 500 hours of work concentrated in 20 days. All this makes saffron, in fact, the most expensive spice in the world.
How Much Does Saffron Actually Cost?
The value of this spice varies according to the final product quality which, as we were saying, depends on the treatment it receives during the supply chain.
Labor has an impact, but often, in some countries, it does not. exploitation of this resource is great. It certainly goes to lower the final price, profiting and abusing but on the poverty of workers. However, there are also products fair trade that protect plantation workers.
The largest producer of saffron in the world is currently theIran (place where saffron actually originates and its use is documented since the Bronze Age), but there are also large productions in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Persia, Russia And Fruit salad. In Italy we find crops that allow us to have approximately 600 kg of saffron per year (a modest but enviable quantity) and are found in Sardinia, Abruzzo, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Umbria.
Saffron production is subject to both national and international pricing regulations. In addition, mainly Iranian and Spanish saffron use the trademark DOP (Protected Designation of Origin)which gives even more value to the product. The price of saffron ranges from 7000 euros per kg (for that industrial and of very poor quality) 60000 euros per kg (for the high quality one). Saffron artisanalhowever, does not start from a price lower than 20,000 euros per kg.
Despite its high cost, saffron can be used in extremely small quantities for preparing dishes, as it is very spicy.
