"Never let it cook." That is the golden rule of saffron, according to Andrea Wagner.
She and her husband are the founders of a saffron brand from Germany - yes, not from Iran nor India. Saffron has a surprisingly long history in central Germany's Thuringia region dating back to the late Middle Ages.
First mentioned in 1437, cultivation and trade flourished in the historic city of Altenburg until saffron disappeared in the 17th century due to the Thirty Years' War.
Revived again today, local producers there now offer saffron beer and saffron liqueurs, chocolate and pralines with saffron, even saffron soap and saffron perfume.
Saffron is too expensive to waste, Wagner says. In Germany, 500 threads make up one gram of Altenburg saffron, and one gram costs €50 (about $59). That means one thread costs ten cents.
"It's an essential oil that evaporates," Wagner says, explaining why it should never be cooked. "Then you have the aroma in the kitchen, not in the pot."
What makes saffron so expensive? Saffron is one of the most costly spices there are. This is due to the cumbersome harvest. The threads need to be manually plucked from the opened flower and dried. Up to 200,000 blossoms have to be harvested for one kilogram of saffron.
When imported as powder or in fine threads the spice costs less, up to around €18 (or US$20) per gram, depending on the quality. High-quality saffron consists of whole stigmas with a strong reddish-brown hue that feel slightly greasy. Stored in a dark, cool place in a sealed container, it can be kept for one to two years.
Wagner says she likes to enhance courgette or pumpkin soup with saffron. She prepares a saffron extract by grinding ten to fifteen threads by hand into a powder for one litre of soup. She stirs this with a splash of lukewarm water in a small bowl and lets it swell for at least two hours or overnight.
Saffron is considered a medicinal plant, said to lift the mood, be good for the eyes and regulate blood pressure.
Wagner also explains how we eat with our eyes: "After cooking I take the soup off the heat and add the extract. But I stir only once, then I have a red spiral."
Real threads rather than powder, and how to use them
Whether for sweet or savoury dishes, chef Thomas Büchner swears by saffron. The 43-year-old from the Altenburg region knows how to tell good saffron from bad.
"Good saffron has long threads where I can clearly see the tip and the root. Short threads with only the tip reveal poorer quality."
The expert concedes that fake saffron, sometimes diluted with turmeric, won't be easy for the average person to spot. That's why he generally advises people to avoid buying saffron in powder form. "You can cheat a lot with that."
For recipes to try at home, Büchner is an inexhaustible source of ideas. "Saffron likes creamy things," he says, recommending a quick bread spread: 250 g soft goat’s cheese, 250 g soured cream, five to ten saffron threads, salt and pepper. He mixes everything together with a stand mixer or hand mixer and puts the mixture in the fridge overnight.
"Then you can eat it right away in the morning. Here the saffron steps into the background and pushes the main ingredients to the fore." The visual effect is also lovely, he says—yellow streaks in the white.
Another idea from Büchner is a fruit salad: soak 10 to 20 saffron threads in 0.2 litres of fresh orange juice, add 100 g of sugar and the fillets of six to ten oranges, then put them into the fridge. The next day serve this special dessert with vanilla ice cream or a warm sweet potato dumpling.
The ice-cube trick
Büchner’s quick method goes like this: simply crush ice cubes and saffron together with a mortar. His rule of thumb is about five threads per cube.
"When the ice cubes melt, they bind oils and colour. I pour this flavourful stock over vegetable rice or a fish stew," he says. "I can also work it into a dessert."
And which drinks go with dishes featuring saffron? Büchner: "An acidic white wine, like a Riesling," he suggests. A malty and not-too-bitter beer will also pair nicely.
Local chef Martin Schlösser has a hot tip (literally) for tasting saffron in its pure, simple form: tea. To do this, he carefully fishes three dried threads out of a jar with tweezers.
The 53-year-old chef, who runs a cooking school in Altenburg, puts the threads in a cup of hot water. Now he lets everything steep. Slowly, the saffron colours the water yellow.
After five minutes, the colour and aroma are strong enough to satisfy even the most discerning palates: "There's no bitterness, no pungency. I just think it tastes good. It's relaxing." – By Andreas Drouve/dpa
