Full red wines, like Barolo and Barbaresco, rare
truffles, delicious hazelnuts, mushrooms … We are really spoiled here in Piemonte.
But an expensive delicacy that more and more farmers
are cultivating here and which doesn’t get a lot of attention, is saffron, one
of the most expensive spices in the world. Several small farms in the Bormida
Valley grow the saffron crocus. Last autumn I was invited by one of them to see
the saffron harvest.
The appointment was at ten o’clock, but shortly after
nine I received a call from Grazia, the farmer, saying that the flowers weren’t
open yet. It After a cold night, the morning started with fog, so we wouldn’t
be able to start until around eleven. Nature decides !
I don’t know what I expected, but upon arrival I am
amazed how small the two crocus fields were. Only a few meters long, with rows
of small purple flowers.
Grazia said that she always works on her knees,
because as the farmers here say: “The ground is low.” New flowers
open every day. These must all be picked on the day itself. Not a day of
vacation can be taken during the harvest period, because that would mean a
disastrous loss.
After picking, the work is not over. All flowers are
spread on the table and the three red pistils are taken from each flower. A
precise work that requires a lot of attention and time.
Grazia says she was working until midnight the day
before and you can not postpone this for a day if you want to deliver a quality
product.
The saffron pestles are dried in the oven for at least
an hour, at a temperature of 30 ° C, with the oven door ajar. After that it is
best to store them in a glass jar. The saffron threads are only ready for
consumption after a month.
After seeing all these efforts, I understand why
saffron is so expensive. At Grazia’s farm you pay 20 euros per gram which isn’t
much if you consider all the work.
In the store you will find two types of saffron:
powder or threads. At Grazia you can only buy the threads, but they are much
stronger in taste. For example, if you read in a recipe that you need 0.5 grams
of powder, then according to Grazia it is sufficient to use 0.25 grams of
saffron threads. You must first soak it in lukewarm water for an hour.
In the past, several Italians thought to be “smart” by picking the pistils of wild crocuses, as they are very similar to the saffron crocus. Unfortunately, some had to pay for this with their lives, because these are very toxic!
