Many millennia ago an unknown person, perhaps a child, pulled the bright reddish-yellow threads from the centre of a crocus. Finding their fingers stained yellow, they almost instinctively licked them, only to encounter an unusual, pleasant taste. Thus was discovered saffron.
This may have taken place in what today is southern Greece. We can’t be sure, since
Crocus sativus, the source of saffron, has never been discovered growing in the wild. It is a sterile cultigen that probably arose from
C. cartwrightianus that bears dark-veined white, mauve or lilac flowers in late fall or early winter at the same time as the foliage appears. Unsurprisingly, in Greece it was known as
krokos.
Saffron soon moved out of the kitchen and dye vats and into Chinese traditional medicine. More recently, its pharmaceutical virtues have found favour in Western research beyond a colouring agent for pharmaceuticals. A few decades ago, a dental painkiller was derived from the stigmas. Past studies have hinted that it has benefits against depression, inflammation, and memory loss and as an antioxidant (
Science News, 2011). Research published in the journal
Hepatology has suggested that saffron may inhibit certain cancers. More recently, Brazilian scientists announced an extract showed promise in combating dengue fever. Saffron is also an important commercial food natural colouring and flavouring.
Saffron Walden in Essex, England was a centre of production in times past. More recently commercial production has been resumed further north, in Norfolk, on a limited scale, although residual populations persist in the wild. However, the modern sources include Greece, Morocco, Afghanistan and Kashmir. However, about 90 percent of present world production originates in Iran – Tehran’s bazaar even sells quantities of saffron ice cream. Modest quantities are also known from such diverse areas as Australia, Austria, California, China, Egypt, England, France, Israel, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland and Turkey.
The world’s most expensive #, it takes the three stigmas of about 4,000 flowers to yield 30 grams. Little wonder then that online offerings quote a mere 0.5g at US$35 or, should you wish your paella to be monstrous, up to $10,000 per pound.
It is possible to raise
Crocus sativus as far north as southwestern Ontario, with the Greater Toronto Area being pretty well the border limits. The corms are available in Canada in early fall and must be planted immediately. A sunny, well-drained soil is required in full sun. Since each corm produces a maximum of four flowers or a dozen stigmas, it is probably beyond most home gardeners’ abilities to produce a useful amount of the treasured #.
Given the demand and cost of the true saffron, often compared to gold at £75 per gram, additional sources have been sought in other crocus species. In centuries past, the Knights of St. John based in Britain raised
Crocus nudiflorus as a saffron substitute. Originating in southwest France and the northwest Iberian Peninsular, it bears white blooms flushed mauve in fall prior to the foliage.
The popular ornamental, spring blooming crocus presents shades of lilac, yellow, blue and white, are all hybrids of
C. vernus, much larger than the original southern European species. Widely available in retail outlets everywhere in early autumn, it is more easily discovered than several species crocus. Selections of these latter may bloom in spring or fall but are mostly left to rock garden and other specialist enthusiasts.
