What Makes Saffron is the World's Most Expensive Spice? Rarity, Desirability and Politics

Saffron is the world's most expensive spice

Saffron is the world's most expensive spice.

You've probably seen it in the spice aisle of your supermarket. There among the jars full to bursting with cinnamon, cloves, mustard seeds, fennel, cumin, chilantro and such is a jar with an envelope in it. Inside the envelope is the saffron. So valuable that you don't get a full jar like the other spices -- but a small envelope. For usually twice the price of all the other jars.

The world's most expensive spice.

There is good reason for this as you will see.

What is Saffron and How Is It Produced

Saffron is made from the stigma of a crocus flower. The stigmas are those tiny, fuzzy parts in the very center of the blossom that stick out one needle thin little stalks.

Each crocus plant has only three (three!) of these stigmas -- each about as big as a grain of rice. So it takes about 100,000 stigmas -- all picked by hand -- to make a pound of pure saffron.

And remember, these come from the flower of the plant -- so saffron can only be collected once a year during a very small window of opportunity.

Add Politics to the Equation

Although the politically stable country of Spain produces some of the world's best saffron, much of the rest comes from Iran and Kashmir. Political unrest, wide-spread corruption and transportation nightmares add much to the cost of this already expensive spice.

It's because of this that saffron is also one of the world's most frequently falsified commodities. This is nothing new -- Pliny, the great Roman philosopher and historian, commented on this very fact in the first century AD.

On the Other Hand

Saffron has a very strong and aromatic flavor, so a tiny amount does go a long way. You seldom need more than a pinch -- perhaps 1/3 to 1/2 a gram -- to flavor most dishes.

The flavor of saffron is dry and earthy and can actually be quite bitter is too much is used. In fact, too much saffron can actually cause headaches and even nosebleeds in certain people as many newly flush amateur chefs have discovered to there horror.

What Makes Saffron is the World's Most Expensive Spice? Rarity, Desirability and Politics

By: Mark Hester

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