Cheap saffron substitute?

[David B]

So there I was, sitting in the dentist's waiting room this morning, idly flicking through a magazine, when I came upon a short article on pot marigolds.

It said that taking pot marigold petals, zapping them in the microwave to dry, and then crushing them up to a powder made a very good saffron substitute both for colour and taste.

I haven't got any marigolds, but if anyone has, or has tried this before, I'd be very interested in knowing how it works.

I like saffron:)

David

[Cath B]

So there I was, sitting in the dentist's waiting room this morning, idly flicking through a magazine, when I came upon a short article on pot marigolds.

It said that taking pot marigold petals, zapping them in the microwave to dry, and then crushing them up to a powder made a very good saffron substitute both for colour and taste.

I haven't got any marigolds, but if anyone has, or has tried this before, I'd be very interested in knowing how it works.

I like saffron:)

David

I haven't tried it but it's been on my list of things to do for a while.

I've also heard that marigolds in chickens diet maes the yolk very yellow.

I've got a few pot marigolds and lots of corn marigolds - I'd guess they might be good too. But my chickens lay yellow yolked eggs already.

[Valheru]

Saffron's ridiculously cheap, why would you want to go to all that effort anyway? It's not like you need dessertspoonfuls of the stuff at a time.

ETA: Bah, you know what, I've confused it with turmeric. Never mind.

[Christina]

Marigolds don't smell anything like saffron but they might be interesting anyway. They're good for planting amidst your veggies for keeping bugs away. Saffron is crazy-expensive here too but for some reason they sell packets of saffron rice for next to nothing. I don't get it.

[Febble]

Saffron used (at any rate) to cost more per oz than gold. Mind you, it's very light.

[Ray Moscow]

Does it matter which sort of marigolds?

We have some in the garden -- some to repel pests, some to attract bees.

[Valheru]

Marigolds don't smell anything like saffron but they might be interesting anyway. They're good for planting amidst your veggies for keeping bugs away. Saffron is crazy-expensive here too but for some reason they sell packets of saffron rice for next to nothing. I don't get it.

Most likely turmeric instead of saffron. Or artificial colourants and flavourants.

My brother works for a fragrances and flavours company, and he tells me that there are very few organic molecules that cannot be synthesized in the lab these days.

[Valheru]

We have some in the garden -- some to repel pests, some to attract bees.

What's black and yellow and stands spreadlegged over a marigold?


Maya the whore.

[Christina]

Most likely turmeric instead of saffron. Or artificial colourants and flavourants.

It must be something like that because it's so cheap. I'll have to read the ingredients the next time that I go to the store. The only times that I've used it has been to make paella and it tasted just like the real thing. I guess that's all I care about given the price of the real thing.

[Anne]

marigold tastes like it smells, so it adds a slight bitter flavor. But it works to yellow things up. We've used it.

[Monad]

Grow your own Saffron crocuses and dry or freeze the stamens for year round use - easy to grow, very pretty in the Autumn and a little goes a long way

[Matty]

Not that i know what a safflower is, but the dried petals of that are commonly called "Turkish Saffron" much as Tumeric is called "Indian Saffron".

I have the Turkish stuff by the bag load (thanks to family in Turkey) it works to add the lovely creamy yellow colour, and has a vaguely saffrony taste though its no where near as strong, but then you get a ziploc bag for a tenner rather than a pinch. I think most alternatives to true saffron add colur almost exclusively but the taste is lacking. if its primarily the colour you want though, go for it.



eta
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safflower

[DMB]

Ah, Matty. Do you have a passion for Cornish saffron cake? -- really more bread than cake. I do. The Swiss make a sort of saffron bread too, but it's not as good.

[Matty]

yeah thats good stuff. my mum makes a great one of those.
thats why i make the distinction between desiring the colour or flavour or both.

[Lugubert]

A Swedish December 13 without lussekatter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron_bun) would be a blasphemy.

The saffron is handed out by cashiers only. Most if not all saffron in Sweden isn't sold ground, but in a way that you can identify the dark orange stamens to make sure it isn't ground turmeric or other substitutes.

[Matty]

same most places no? A few strands in a tiny ziploc for relatively lots of money.

[Cath B]

Five hundred years ago Saffron was grown commercially in England - notably (surprise, surprise) in Saffron Waldren. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron_Walden)

[Christina]

I was curious so I googled how to grow saffron and I found this article (http://spices.suite101.com/article.cfm/grow_your_own_saffron). It turns out that it comes from a particular variety of fall-blooming crocus that would thrive where I live. They cost about $1 each at Wayside Gardens (http://www.waysidegardens.com/gardening/PD/8121?cid=wport0001&CAWELAID=358444885). The other types of crocus that I grow take no care at all and multiply like crazy. It doesn't make sense that it's so expensive unless it's because it's so fragile.

[Monad]

It's not any more expensive than other autumn crocuses over here and is not fragile in my experience.

[Christina]

I meant fragile in terms of removing and packaging the stamens, not the bulbs themselves.

[Matty]

Saffron used (at any rate) to cost more per oz than gold. Mind you, it's very light.

For the longest time the most valuable cargo you could ship, surpassing gold jewels, the lot, was nutmeg

[Lugubert]

According to Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron), one fresh-picked flower yields an average 30 milligrams (0.46 gr) of fresh saffron or 7 milligrams (0.11 gr) of dried saffron, so there's a fair amount of work put into the production, which explains the price.

[Cath B]

Saffron used (at any rate) to cost more per oz than gold. Mind you, it's very light.

For the longest time the most valuable cargo you could ship, surpassing gold jewels, the lot, was nutmeg

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amythysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.


by John Masefield

(Sorry, couldn't resist derail, even though it's cinnamon not nutmeg here)

[Matty]

cool.

i only had the nutmeg bit to mind having recently read this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nathaniels-Nutmeg-Courage-Changed-History/dp/0340696761

[Cath B]

cool.

i only had the nutmeg bit to mind having recently read this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nathaniels-Nutmeg-Courage-Changed-History/dp/0340696761

Looks like it could be a good read.