I am positive I’m not the first food writer to use this as a title for an article on saffron, just as I am sure that I am the thousandth writer to tell everyone repeatedly that saffron is the most expensive spice in the world because it takes the dried stigmata of 5000 crocuses to produce one ounce; an acre of these hand-picked, lilac-coloured, fall-blooming flowers to produce a pound of the orangish-red, hypnotically fragrant threads.

It’s a wonder with stats like that anyone could bring themselves to use this apparently exorbitant spice but in fact, in other parts of the world, it is used daily. Saffron is a defining flavouring in bouillabaisse, many risotto dishes, paella, Indian rice dishes, and sweets, baked goods and sorbets.

To add to the mystique of this spice, it is often sold in wee, one gram vials, safely tucked away from …who? Shoplifters? Druggies? As far as I have read, it isn’t hallucinogenic, and can’t be smoked like the famous banana peel of Donovan’s song.

Don’t get any idea about picking your own crocuses; almost all crocuses are poisonous except for the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus Linnaeus. Native to the Mediterranean countries, specifically Turkey, Iran, Egypt, and Greece, it is now also cultivated in Spain, India, and Italy. While Iran is the top producer of saffron, saffron from Spain known as La Mancha, is considered to be the world’s finest.  India uses the most saffron in everyday cooking, from pilau to biryani.

The saffron crocus differs from other crocuses in the shape and size of its reproductive parts. Three 2-3cm long stigmata of a rich red colour are attached to a pale-yellow style, surrounded by 3 pale-yellow stamens. Only the stigmata contain the chemical components which give saffron its characteristic and coveted aroma, flavour, and dye properties.

The word “saffron” comes from an Arabic word meaning “be yellow.” The deep yellow dye produced from the red stigmata has been important for food and fabrics since ancient times.

The colour yellow has a checkered past. Saffron yellow was once considered a colour of power and superiority. In ancient China and Asia, it was the colour of the Emperor’s robes and the robes of Buddhist monks. European royalty would wear the colour as a symbol of their superiority. Venus wore a yellow robe, and from this yellow became associated with love, then lust, then prostitutes. At one point in time yellow could be associated with almost anything nasty, from the plague and leprosy to envy and stinginess.

The flavour of saffron, sometimes described as bitter, combines well with richly creamy and exotically seasoned foods, especially seafood, rice, and sweet breads, but does not show up well in highly spicy and hot foods.

I find that it is the heady, sensual fragrance of saffron in a dish that gives it its allure. Saffron scented water was once used to perfume public places for the royalty and upper classes. It can be found in the fragrance notes of many popular exotic types of cologne, including Armani.

With the high price on saffron, it is a given that there are going to be fakes. Saffron can be adulterated with other orange-red spices like turmeric, safflower, and calendula. Many authorities advise against buying powdered saffron because it can easily be doctored. (I personally have never come across powdered saffron.)

The trick is to know what a good stigma should look like; almost completely red, with just a hint of pale yellow on the end where it was attached to the style. There should be no yellow threads (stamens) in the package. I currently have two packages of saffron, both claiming to be La Mancha, and both costing about $4.00 per gram. The threads in one package are all red except for some of the tips, which are yellow. There are no all-yellow strands. The other box is almost half yellow strands.

Recently, there has been a move to standardize all saffron by giving it a rating based upon its dye content, as measured by a spectrophotometer. I have not yet seen any packaging with this label.

Putting all duplicity aside, how do you use saffron? Adding threads of saffron directly into most dishes will do little for the flavour and colour; it is too slow to release its components. The threads should be steeped in a heated liquid to make a tea that will be added to the dish— milk, cream, water, wine,—and left for at least two hours or even over-night. The threads can either be left in or strained out. In a pinch, the saffron can be crushed and made into a paste with a heated liquid for a minimum of 20 minutes, but you won’t be getting the full impact.

I think that the notoriety saffron has earned for being a luxury is highly over-stated. A gram of saffron (here I go with the math again) is enough to make at least four dishes, that, if served to six people each, at $4/gram (let’s see; carry the one and multiply by π) means that it all comes down to pennies a serving!

Think instead about mussels in a saffron and fennel cream sauce, or saffron-scented wild mushroom sauce over a piece of fresh halibut. If value were measured by weight, sure it seems expensive; when value is measured by enjoyment, it’s a bargain.