Most commonly associated with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food, saffron is no stranger in British culinary history and was widely used during the Medieval and Elizabethan eras. However, the golden spice created from the stigma of crocuses has fallen out of favour as an ingredient in British cuisine somewhat over the last few centuries.
Saffron – a Favoured Spice of Medieval and Elizabethan Britain
Introduced into England either by the Phoenicians or the Romans, depending upon which historical source is to be believed, saffron has been used as a food colouring for centuries. In fact, a town in Essex got its name of Saffron Walden according to the Penny Magazine of 1840, because in 1586, the fields around the town of Walden were given over to the growing of crocuses for saffron. The spice has also been used for centuries in Cornwall's Christmas saffron cake.
To illustrate saffron’s importance as an ingredient for many dishes by the more wealthy classes in the 16th and 17th century history of the UK even the Great Bard, William Shakespeare, referred to it in Act IV, scene III of his play A Winter’s Tale. Clown, son of the Old Shepherd who was the adoptive father of the play’s heroine Perdita, says: “I must have saffron to colour the warden pies.”
Saffron and Pear Pie Mentioned in William Shakespeare’s Play
Warden in this context refers to a particular type of pear, noted to have been grown at the Cistercian Abbey at Old Warden, Bedfordshire, from whence it got its name. Modern day horticulture recognises it as the “Worcestershire Black” variant of pear or pyrus nivalis. So, it can be deduced that Clown needed saffron to colour his pear pie.
Saffron is currently being sold in one of the UK’s leading supermarkets at a cost of £3.80 for a ½ gram. Buying enough ½-gram packets at that price to get a kilo of the golden strands would lead to a checkout bill of an eye watering £7,600. Given those figures, saffron clearly deserves its dubious honour of being the most expensive spice in the world.
Why Saffron is the Most Expensive Spice in the World
However, the cost is not surprisingly when, according to The Times newspaper of March 1983, some 70,000 to 80,000 flowers are required to produce 1 pound of saffron – a figure that extrapolates to between 154,000 and 176,000 flowers required for one kilo of the stuff. When the fact that each strand of saffron has to be carefully hand plucked from the individual flower heads is taken into account, its cost becomes understandable.
So, next time the waiter brings a Spanish paella, a French bouillabaisse, an Indian Biryani or an Italian risotto to the restaurant table, admire the golden, silky yellow of the dishes. Relish the taste, then raise a toast, and quietly thank those poor workers of the world’s saffron producing countries who spent so much time plucking stigmas from flower heads.
Elaine Findlay - An expert cook, Findlay's passion for food is evidenced by the size of her kitchen and her library of old recipe books
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