Cost Plus has 1-gram packages of Kashmiri Saffron for $2.99.


....I'll wait until you get back before I continue...


Okay. Everyone here?

Yes, it's not a typo: $2.99. Under three bucks. I've paid more for a
third of a gram of the Spanish stuff.

Compare this with the $11.49 you'll pay at Penzey's. Or rather, if
you've been paying attention, that I paid at Penzey's just last week.

The saffron package will be hanging on the plastic-bag spice display.
Visible inside the plastic bag is a small, yellow, plastic box that
contains the saffron. From first look, it's pretty stuff. Fat stamens
with no yellow in sight; though the color of the box may be doing some
optical filtering on it. But for three bucks I figured it was worth a
shot just in the name of science (and gambling).

The bag's cardstock label says "100% pure Saffron Mongra [sic] Red
Filament, Grade A, Long cut." I don't know what "Grade A" means*.
This one has a "Best By" date of April 30, 2008. Now that I have 2
grams of the stuff, it might just last that long.

I'll open it here in real-time and tell you what I find.

The box is actually wrapped in amber cellophane. And that is
cross-tied with a gold-threaded string, which is clasped with a
gold-foil sealing button stamped "KKM". On one edge is a blue sticker
that says "PACKING DATE 2005/EXPIRY DATE 2008". There's also a white
sticker with a green dot that says "SAFFRON NEW CROP". I'm able to
force the string over one corner rather than removing the seal (which
is merely folded over on itself; it's hardly a security device).
Inside the amber cellophane the box is clear, and has quite a bit of
writing. It also has a hologram sticker! They seem very serious about
conveying the unadulterated authenticity of the contents. The front of
the box says:

SUN [logo] BRAND
(text in arabic and some
sort of indian script)
SAFFRON
GUARANTEED 100% PURE
K.K. MART
SRINAGAR-KASHMIR

The rear says:

WARRANTY:
Our company assures to a buyer that this pack contains absolute 100%
pure saffron and is free form any alcoholic matter.
NET WEIGHT: 1GM
WHEN PACKED


The box is tricky, one flat side nested in the other, in possibly the
most awkward way, with no finger cutouts, allowing minimal grip surface
and requiring maximal force and balance. One slip and I'll be
vacuuming my three bucks from three rooms for three weeks.

Holding the stamens up against those from the little plastic bag in the
big Penzey's jar, I can see no difference. The same blood-red color.
The same minimal quantity of yellow tinge on a few of the thin ends (so
few it's hard to find any to test the hypothesis that the amber
cellophane obfuscates them; it does not; if you can see the difference
without the filter, you can see it through the filter). The same
somewhat shiny surface. And the same clear, powerful saffron aroma.

I'll make some saffron rice in a bit and see if it comes out as well.
The two batches I've made with the Penzey's lot were as good as any
I've ever made, but I used 1/2 to 2/3 the saffron in them that I
usually add.

Which is a good point to bring up. The Spanish saffron is cheaper
enough that I would just use that and add an extra half-pinch.
Although, now, if Cost Plus is somehow going to manage to keep up this
supply, that entire equation goes out the window, because this would be
far less expensive and higher-quality at the same time.

--Blair
"Score!"

* - this site seems to have the scoop:
http://www.saffrongold.f9.co.uk/whatis.html
Since I've never even seen a piece of saffron more than 3/4ths of an
inch long, I doubt I've seen any saffron other than an arguable grade A.

Okay. One batch of saffron rice later, I'm not so sure about this
stuff. The color wasn't as intense, the aroma was a bit like cooking
eggs, and I didn't notice any flavor. Not sure one sample point is
probative though. Saffron is subtle stuff and all of this could depend
on what I've eaten today, interference from other senses, serotonin
levels, etc. I'll have to try each a few more times.

--Blair

Blair P. Houghton wrote:

> Okay. One batch of saffron rice later, I'm not so sure about this
> stuff. The color wasn't as intense, the aroma was a bit like cooking
> eggs, and I didn't notice any flavor. Not sure one sample point is
> probative though. Saffron is subtle stuff and all of this could depend
> on what I've eaten today, interference from other senses, serotonin
> levels, etc. I'll have to try each a few more times.


That fits with my experience. I've tried just about every cheap brand
of saffron I've come across, and what they have in common is that they
all have almost no flavor. It's not even that the flavor is bad.
More like non existent.

--
Reg

Reg wrote:
> That fits with my experience. I've tried just about every cheap brand
> of saffron I've come across, and what they have in common is that they
> all have almost no flavor. It's not even that the flavor is bad.
> More like non existent.

That's a shame. Because the only visible thing differentiating this
from what Penzey's sells is the price and package.

I found the packer's website. It's quaint.

http://www.kkmart.net/saffron.html

The yellow boxes in the basket halfway down on the right are exactly
what Cost Plus is re-selling, in clear plastic bags.

--Blair

And now it looks like you can't go by the brand name either:

http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPERIOR-QUALITY...ayphotohosting

"Sun Brand" must be pretty genericized in the worldwide spice biz. I
have some "Sun Brand" curry powder that I consider excellent.

--Blair

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> And now it looks like you can't go by the brand name either:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPERIOR-QUALITY...ayphotohosting
>
> "Sun Brand" must be pretty genericized in the worldwide spice biz. I
> have some "Sun Brand" curry powder that I consider excellent.


NEW WORRY STONES 5 PACK Rubbing WICCAN PAGAN Relaxation

NEW BRAIN WAVE ELECTRONIC HEAD SCALP MASSAGER

Anyone who buys $3 saffron from a company that on the same page also
sells
the above items and wonders why they got ripped off ain't too well
wrapped.

Chronic Cheap ******* Disease! <G>

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. . . .

Sheldon