How to use saffron

When a dry thread is thrown into a dish, most of the colour and aroma stays inside the thread.

The colouring compound dissolves in water. So the thread is first ground to a powder, then kept in water at 65–70 degrees for fifteen minutes. Boiling water drives off the aroma; cold water does not draw out the colour.

The infusion keeps in the fridge in a closed container for three days. Making it once and using it in several dishes is both easier and uses less saffron.

Saffron has three enemies: light, moisture and heat.

Keep it in a glass jar with the lid closed, in a cool, dark place. The inside of a cupboard is better than the fridge — in the fridge, condensation forms inside the jar every time the lid is opened.

Do not keep the spice shelf beside the cooker or the window. Properly stored saffron keeps its strength for up to three years; left in the light, it fades within a year.

Most of the saffron sold on the world market is either adulterated or not saffron at all.

The simplest test is water: drop a few threads into hot water. Real saffron gives up its colour slowly, over ten to fifteen minutes, and the water turns golden yellow; the thread keeps its own red. A dyed product turns the water red at once and the thread goes pale.

Look at the shape: one end of the stigma is thin, the other opens like a tube. “Threads” of even width, cut straight, are usually dyed corn silk or safflower petals.

Taste it: saffron is bitter. A sweet taste means a sugar additive.