Gill Meller
LATIN NAME
Crocus sativus
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SOURCING
englishsaffron.co.uk; norfolksaffron.co.uk
This spice is famously more expensive than gold, gram for gram, so it’s fortunate that you need just a small pinch to get the best of its woody, musky and curiously perfumed flavour. Saffron is the dried stigma of the purple crocus. Its high cost is a reflection of the laborious work of production. Each flower must be gathered, by hand, at just the right time of day. The long stigma are then picked out of the bloom and carefully dried to capture their power. It takes around 16,000 flowers to make 100g of usable saffron.
Saffron is largely imported now, the best coming from the arid plains of Spain, Iran and Kashmir. However, back in the seventeenth century, East Anglian ‘crokers’ exported cargo-loads of home-grown saffron and there was a vibrant saffron-growing tradition in the West Country too, manifested in the Cornish saffron buns and breads still made today. A few intrepid British growers are now reviving the tradition of growing saffron.
The magical filaments come to us rusty red, often wrapped in yellow cellophane, ready to stain all they touch a rich, golden hue. The name comes from za’faran, the Arabic for ‘yellow’. Look for whole strands of saffron with a deep orangey colour. Beware cheap offerings, which can be adulterated – or at least bulked with safflower petals – and avoid powdered saffron, which may include turmeric and synthetic dyes. Stored in a cool, dark space, good saffron keeps its potency for a couple of years.
To best release the colour and flavour, saffron stigmas need to be infused in liquid to dissolve their waxy coating. Soak for 20 minutes in warm milk, booze, stock or water, then add both the saffron and the liquid to your dish.
With its fragrant quality, saffron is fantastic in ricey things, such as pilafs and risottos, and in rustic, French-style fish soups too. Saffron has a delicate bitterness and is a good counterpoint to sugary sweetness, not just in saffron buns, but in simple, buttery sponge cakes. And saffron custard is delectable, either churned into ice cream or just chilled and served with a tart compote of young gooseberries.
SAFFRON SPELTOTTO WITH BLACK PUDDING AND PARSLEY
Saffron is a classic ingredient in many risottos but it works just as well with pearled spelt. For a sustaining meal, this is wonderful with a poached egg. Serves 2
About 650ml veg or light chicken stock
A large pinch of saffron strands
1½ tbsp olive oil
25g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
125g pearled spelt (or pearl barley), rinsed
½ small glass of dry white wine
100g black pudding, cut into 1cm slices
30g Parmesan or other hard matured cheese, finely grated
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped fennel herb (optional)
Sea salt and black pepper
Bring the stock to a gentle simmer in a saucepan. Add the saffron and keep the stock hot over a very low heat.
Heat 1 tbsp oil and half the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently for 8–10 minutes or until soft but not coloured. Add the spelt or barley and cook, stirring, for a further 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, until it has all been absorbed.
Add a couple of ladlefuls of the hot stock (with the saffron) and simmer gently, stirring from time to time, until it is absorbed by the grain. Continue in this way until the grain is tender: spelt should take about 25 minutes, barley a little longer. You may not need all the stock, or you may need a little more.
Meanwhile, when the spelt is almost cooked, heat a splash of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the black pudding for 3–4 minutes on each side.
When the grain is tender, take the speltotto off the heat. Stir in the cheese and remaining butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the parsley and fennel, if using, and give it a final stir. Divide between warm plates, crumble over the black pudding and serve.
