Saffron

Shoe Lover

How long should saffron be left sitting in boiling water before it gets the nice yellow colour? I followed a recipe yesterday for Paella and while the water was a bit yellowy, it wasn't bright yellow and when I added it to the recipe, it made no effect at all on my rice, so it still look at white and left the dish rather bland

Minder

20 minutes.

Shoe Lover

Thanks! Stupid recipe didn't say how long, just said "let it diffuse in boiling water"! Next time will be better

Minder

I find that if it's not soaked long enough it will still release colour in the dish - usually locally, so I end up with white rice with pockets of deeply stained orange rice.

d4v1d

Minder wrote: »

I find that if it's not soaked long enough it will still release colour in the dish - usually locally, so I end up with white rice with pockets of deeply stained orange rice.

you could crush the saffron before using it. much less soaking time and no effect on the flavour.

BaZmO*

Just on the subject of Saffron, you need to be careful that the Saffron you buy is genuine.

I watched a programme on the BBC recently and they were talking about counterfeit Saffron and how it's become quite a lucrative market.
Apparently the counterfeiters use bits of petals among other things, and dye them with food colouring to make them look like the real thing.

I actually bought some in an Asian market recently (for the Cooking Club Paella) and I noticed that there seemed to be an awful lot of it for the very reasonable price I paid for it, so I decided to buy one of the Schwartz jars (which were very expensive) to compare the two.

The one from the Asian market had lots and lots of little random bits and pieces that were all different shapes and sizes, whereas the Schwartz one actually looked like individual stigmas.

I also did a little test by dropping a pinch from each sample into a glass of hot water to see what happened. The Asian market coloured the water very quickly, in fact there were streams of colour flowing from the pieces as they dropped to the bottom. The Schwartz one had a much gentler infusion and a more natural colour to it.

duploelabs

you can also use Turmeric as a substitute. You can also use Turmeric as an antiseptic

Shoe Lover

BaZmO* wrote: »

Just on the subject of Saffron, you need to be careful that the Saffron you buy is genuine.

I watched a programme on the BBC recently and they were talking about counterfeit Saffron and how it's become quite a lucrative market.
Apparently the counterfeiters use bits of petals among other things, and dye them with food colouring to make them look like the real thing.

I actually bought some in an Asian market recently (for the Cooking Club Paella) and I noticed that there seemed to be an awful lot of it for the very reasonable price I paid for it, so I decided to buy one of the Schwartz jars (which were very expensive) to compare the two.

The one from the Asian market had lots and lots of little random bits and pieces that were all different shapes and sizes, whereas the Schwartz one actually looked like individual stigmas.

I also did a little test by dropping a pinch from each sample into a glass of hot water to see what happened. The Asian market coloured the water very quickly, in fact there were streams of colour flowing from the pieces as they dropped to the bottom. The Schwartz one had a much gentler infusion and a more natural colour to it.

It was the Schwartz one I used. I never thought of going to an Asian shop! I don't even know if there is one in Drogheda. There's a lot of Polish shops and some African but not sure about Asian. I must investigate!

ninky

duploelabs wrote: »

you can also use Turmeric as a substitute. You can also use Turmeric as an antiseptic

..you could but tumeric has its own unusual taste..saffrons more fragrant and wouldn't spoil the taste..

I had a friend get me a small bundle of saffron on his travels...he told me that the fella kept the stuff behind the counter and looked around before producing his stash:)naturally very prized..i might post a pic later..not seen anything like it.

The Sweeper

I planted a few saffron crocuses in my own garden two years ago. They do come up and flower - they're a small, purple crocus, about 6 inches high.

So yes, they do grow.

...but there endeth the parable, because the dog dug them up to bury a marrowbone one afternoon so I couldn't tell you whether or not I'd ever be able to successfully harvest the stamens from them.