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Fake saffron: an around the world mystery

Fake saffron: an around the world mystery
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  • Fake saffron: an around the world mystery

    Post #1 - September 5th, 2008, 3:43 pm
    Post #1 - September 5th, 2008, 3:43 pm Post #1 - September 5th, 2008, 3:43 pm
    So some years ago my sister came back from... somewhere... and gave me a jar of what was alleged to be saffron, bought cheap overseas. One look and I knew instantly that it was turmeric, perhaps mixed with some of the real deal to make it look a little more orange, chosen for the yellow color it would dye whatever it was put into. It sat in a jar on a top shelf for many years until the statute of limitations expired and I discarded it.

    This year she came back from Bali with two smuggled food things for me. (I had hopes for, like, an entire jerkied wild boar, but no.) One was vanilla beans, a huge wad of them frozen together. Vanilla beans are certainly easy enough to definitely identify, so I had no worries about them and sorted them into packs of ten which I vacuum-sealed (hey, did you know you can make several seals in a single pouch? Roll the long end up and stuff it in the place where you normally stick the end, and odds are it will seal correctly, if not, re-roll and try again. Then you can put more in the long end, roll it up again and seal it again. I could do three seals in a single pouch). I've used them already and they're great.

    The other was alleged to be saffron-- but threads, this time, not powder. I open it up. Instead of the very distinct wet-clothes smell of saffron, I got a harsh, coffee-like odor. The threads, though the right color, are also much thicker and coarser-looking. Other than color, I don't think it even looks much like saffron at all, as I know it; I'm no botanist but it looks far more like a seed or petal than a stamen.

    I suppose this could be simply a different subspecies or strain. But it could just as easily be the stamen of the Balinese Death Flower for all I know. Here is real saffron (from Spain) on the left, and the mystery "saffron" from Bali on the right. Anyone feel like making a guess as to what it is, really?

    Image
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  • Post #2 - September 5th, 2008, 5:35 pm
    Post #2 - September 5th, 2008, 5:35 pm Post #2 - September 5th, 2008, 5:35 pm
    Hard to tell, but the stuff from Bali looks like it includes the pistil, as well as the stamen -- which is not to say that it's the pistil and stamen from the correct flower -- but there are some wispy threads that look less unlike saffron, and then there are fat, pistil-like threads that look like they just pulled out the entire inside of the flower.

    But you're right -- it does seem as thought fake saffron can be found in far more places than where one would consider looking for saffron.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #3 - September 5th, 2008, 5:51 pm
    Post #3 - September 5th, 2008, 5:51 pm Post #3 - September 5th, 2008, 5:51 pm
    Could that be safflower? That's what I usually see being mislabeled as "saffron."
  • Post #4 - September 5th, 2008, 8:25 pm
    Post #4 - September 5th, 2008, 8:25 pm Post #4 - September 5th, 2008, 8:25 pm
    Binko wrote:Could that be safflower? That's what I usually see being mislabeled as "saffron."


    It DOES look like safflower. Nice ID work.
  • Post #5 - September 5th, 2008, 8:44 pm
    Post #5 - September 5th, 2008, 8:44 pm Post #5 - September 5th, 2008, 8:44 pm
    I've seen this stuff somewhere locally, sold as saffron (Marketplace on Oakton? but they keep their real saffron locked up, so I doubt it) and wondered what the heck it was. Interesting!
  • Post #6 - September 5th, 2008, 9:10 pm
    Post #6 - September 5th, 2008, 9:10 pm Post #6 - September 5th, 2008, 9:10 pm
    Yep, looks like this (to be honest, it looks like the pictures on several pages, but only this one has tips for a hot Friday night as well!)

    Good job, LTHers!
    Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
    New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
    Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.
  • Post #7 - September 5th, 2008, 10:46 pm
    Post #7 - September 5th, 2008, 10:46 pm Post #7 - September 5th, 2008, 10:46 pm
    Wow. I wonder what it's like to work in their research department.
  • Post #8 - September 6th, 2008, 8:44 am
    Post #8 - September 6th, 2008, 8:44 am Post #8 - September 6th, 2008, 8:44 am
    I bought safflower labeled as saffron many years ago. While it did not ruin the dishes I made with it, real saffron certainly adds more punch, and, IIRC, the safflower was bitter.

    -ramon
  • Post #9 - September 7th, 2008, 6:36 am
    Post #9 - September 7th, 2008, 6:36 am Post #9 - September 7th, 2008, 6:36 am
    You sometimes see safflower labeled as "Mexican saffron."
  • Post #10 - September 12th, 2008, 7:26 pm
    Post #10 - September 12th, 2008, 7:26 pm Post #10 - September 12th, 2008, 7:26 pm
    Funny- how in Mexican Supermercados- you'll see packets of Mexican "Azaffran"- the Spanish word for Saffron-but is really from either Marigold or some other plant.

    For my money- really great Saffron can be scored from a mail-order place I read of in Saveur some years back-
    He sells, not only Spanish Saffron, but Iranian, Greek and many other countries.
    Bacstrom Import Co.
    Buddy Born-Proprietor
    800.599.2131.

    http://www.bacstrom.com/
  • Post #11 - September 13th, 2008, 12:19 am
    Post #11 - September 13th, 2008, 12:19 am Post #11 - September 13th, 2008, 12:19 am
    I saw the flowers shown on the right in the original photo at Richwell Market, labeled as "saffron flowers."
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #12 - September 18th, 2008, 11:12 pm
    Post #12 - September 18th, 2008, 11:12 pm Post #12 - September 18th, 2008, 11:12 pm
    Was just at the little Filipino grocery store in Wheeling, and I noticed that they had packets of the flowers in question boldly labeled as "safflower." The subtitle below the bright "safflower" title was "kasubha."

    So at least one place is selling it as safflower.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #13 - September 19th, 2008, 11:16 am
    Post #13 - September 19th, 2008, 11:16 am Post #13 - September 19th, 2008, 11:16 am
    Interesting...I bought a small jar of Spanish saffron from Trader Joe's while ago. It was only $2.95 and I can't figure out why it was so cheap when it's supposed to be expensive. Maybe it's the fake stuff!
    Hillary
    http://chewonthatblog.com <--A Chicago Food Blog!
  • Post #14 - January 18th, 2019, 10:54 pm
    Post #14 - January 18th, 2019, 10:54 pm Post #14 - January 18th, 2019, 10:54 pm
    Binko wrote:Could that be safflower? That's what I usually see being mislabeled as "saffron."

    I inherited a packet labeled, 'Kasuba.' I did a little looking around to find it is dried safflower (carthamus tinctorius) used as a saffron substitute. You can learn more about it here.

    Regards,
    Cathy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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