I suspect it may be Sudan I or Sudan III - both are carcinogenic, and Sudan I is sometimes used to dye spices.
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Not cochineal, the cactus bugs? I remember finding out those were in Trader Joe’s veggie links then learning some of the other dyes are worse.
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I’ve never had Kashmiri saffron, but I doubt very much if it’s commonly used (if at all) even in restaurants in Spain.
As I’ve done (I make paella at least 16 times a year), you can purchase perfectly fine Spanish saffron from well-stocked Indian food markets for ~$100. That’s a lot to shell out in one go, but my first 1 ounce tin (Antonio Garcia Inesta brand) got me through ~10 years of use, and that included occasional use in light, seafood sauces. My double-bagging may have increased its longevity, and even at the end it didn’t lose its potency; heady aroma still present as was its ability (even in very small quantities) to color your recipe. I merely smile at the “best before end of…” dates on my current two tins.
Fun Fact: Spaniards (one owning a restaurant in LA) have told me that households ‘back home’ more often use a tasteless colorant instead of saffron.)
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3 strands per flower. 350 strands per gram.
how large is your hobby garden, in hectares?
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Do you recall the amount?
It comes in 1g. I don’t see it listed on their site, but here’s a cooking website that’s has an article on it: https://www.thekitchn.com/costco-kirkland-signature-saffron-264374
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I didn’t know about safflower (or I forgot that I did). A food scientist recommends keeping it in the freezer to keep the flavor.
They recommend spacing bulbs 2" apart. You can get more than one flower per bulb
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At 10.89 for 1 gram, that's triple the /weight of buying a 1 net ounce, $100 tin (last time I purchased) from an Indian food store. Looks like Costco is leveraging off their perceived reputation.
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While Kashmiri saffron is in decline, the overall market is growing by a significant margin due to the increased growing opportunities for Greeks who are really interested in finding new side hustles.
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Probably annatto? My mom uses annatto and/or saffron depending on what she’s cooking, as in certain dishes all she wants is the color.
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Kashmir saffron is good, but by far the best saffron in the world is based on scientific studies is Krokos Kozanis from Greece. India is a distant second with the rest after that. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/53/79/fd/5379fdaa8b824a8a57e9c06e6bcc81af.jpg
Also do note that the origin and native area of Saffron comes from the Greek island of Crete, Greece.
I’ve noticed that the Indian food stores tend to have cheaper prices on spices overall.
The problem with the stores where I live is that some of their items on their shelves aren’t fresh and sometimes can be several years old.
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Sad story: My wife loves Crab. She enjoyed crab cakes, crab salad, crab sushi, all kinds of crab. Been eating it all of her life.
Around the Myrtle Beach area of SC, there is a style of restaurants called the “Calabash”, named after creek that the local seafood industry is based out of. They have buffets of seafood prepared in the low-country style; you end up eating a lot of seafood for a somewhat hefty yet exceptionally reasonable price.
They had Alaskan Crab legs. This was the first time she had ever been presented with a whole crab leg; and I (who hate seafood) showed her how to crack and eat the leg. She also had some blue crabs and a bunch of other delightful sea food. It was a LOT of fun. She loved it.
However, it turns out, she’s allergic to crab. In 45 years of eating crab, she’d never actually had crab; it had all been imitation. Every crab cake, sushi roll, and crab salad sandwich she had ever had in her life had been imitation, even the “real” stuff.
Ironically, a year later, in a lower-end steak house in western PA, she ordered a crab cake figuring that it would obviously be imitation. Amazingly enough, it was real…
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Saffron is now being grown in Washington State, near Lake Chelan. Having tried it, I actually like it better than the Spanish.
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