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Ep352: Expensive Spice on Earth - Saffron · Kidcast Daily

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  Spin the wheel, let's take a ride.
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  Sports and science bursting from inside a world of wonder open
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  wide. Come on kids, let's amplify kid
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  cats. Daily starts your day.
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  Fun and laughter come your way. Sports and trivia games galore.
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  Welcome back to Kick Ass Daily. Get ready to learn something
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  awesome today. Whether it's sports records,
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  science, discoveries, history, mysteries, or wild trivia.
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  Today we are exploring saffron. Known as the world's most
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  expensive spice, Saffron is prized by cooks, scientists, and
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  perfume makers for its strong color, special taste, and unique
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  smell. It comes from a purple flower
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  called the saffron crocus. Inside each flower are tiny red
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  threads. Those threads are the spice.
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  People carefully collect them, dry them, and use them in tiny
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  amounts to flavor and color food.
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  Even a pinch can change a whole pot of rice into a golden dish
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  with a warm, rich aroma. Here is a fun trivia question to
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  start. Which country produces the most
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  saffron in the world today? The answer is Iran.
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  In most years, Iran grows the largest share of global saffron,
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  often more than 4/5 of the total supply.
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  Other saffron also comes from Spain, India, Greece, Morocco
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  and Italy. What exactly are those red
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  threads? They're called stigmas, which
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  are part of the flowers female reproductive parts.
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  Each saffron crocus flower has only a few of them, and they are
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  delicate to collect. Saffron farmers pick the flowers
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  and then gently separate the red stigmas by hand.
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  After that, the threads are dried so they last longer and
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  become more intense in taste and smell.
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  Because it takes so much careful work to gather a small amount,
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  saffron is very costly. Here is a yes or no question
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  that adds A harvesting detail. Do farmers often start picking
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  saffron flowers before sunrise? Yes, many farmers begin very
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  early in the morning because the flowers open and can wilt as the
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  day warms up. Picking early helps keep the
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  threads in good shape and preserves their aroma.
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  Now here is another trivia challenge.
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  How many red threads does each saffron flower contain?
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  3 Each flower has three stigmas. That is one reason saffron is so
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  rare. To get just one gram of saffron,
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  hundreds of flowers are needed. Imagine working through basket
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  after basket of blooms, carefully removing only three
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  tiny threads from each one. Let's talk about how saffron
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  looks, smells and tastes good. Saffron threads are deep red
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  with a slightly trumpet shaped end.
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  The smell is strong and earthy with a hint of sweetness.
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  The flavor is warm, slightly bitter, and very special, so
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  people use only a few threads in a dish.
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  When added to water or milk and then mixed into rice or dough,
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  saffron turns foods a bright yellow to orange color.
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  This is because of a natural pigment called crocin, another
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  compound called pico. Crocin effects taste, and
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  saffronile gives most of the aroma.
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  These names sound scientific, and they are, but the results
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  are easy to notice. Bright color, strong fragrance
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  and memorable flavor. You might wonder how people use
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  saffron at home. In Spain, cooks often use it in
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  paya, a rice dish with vegetables and seafood or meat.
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  In India, saffron goes into biryani, A seasoned rice dish,
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  and into milk based desserts like Kiir.
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  In Italy, risotto alamilanese becomes golden with saffron.
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  Bakers sometimes add a few strands to buns and cakes in low
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  doses. Saffron also appears in teas and
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  ice creams. Because it is so powerful,
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  recipes usually call for just a pinch, which might mean 5 to 10
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  threads. Another trivia question for you.
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  Do you know the scientific name of the saffron plant?
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  It is Crocus sativus. This plant blooms in the fall in
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  many growing regions and prefers dry summers and cool winters.
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  Fields are planted with corns, which are like small underground
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  bulbs. Farmers space them out in rows,
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  keep weeds under control and watch for the short bloom season
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  each year. Here is a yes or no question
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  that teaches a quick kitchen test.
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  If you drop real saffron threads into cold water, should the
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  water turn bright yellow right away?
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  No Real saffron releases color slowly over several minutes.
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  If the water turns very bright immediately, the threads may
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  have been dyed or mixed with another spice.
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  Always ask an adult before doing any food test, and only try
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  tests on threads you do not plan to eat.
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  If you are unsure about them, let's look at quality.
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  Saffron is often graded by color, strength, aroma and
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  cleanliness. High grade saffron has strong
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  color and smell, with mostly red stigmas and very little yellow
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  style attached. Lower grades may include more
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  yellow styles or broken pieces. Because saffron is expensive,
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  some sellers may stretch it by adding look alike strands from
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  other plants or by mixing in colored fibers.
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  Buying from trusted sources helps, and storing saffron in an
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  airtight container away from light helps it keep its
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  qualities for a year or more. Why is saffron so expensive?
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  One reason is labor. Every thread is picked and
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  processed by hand. Another reason is the short
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  harvest window. Many fields bloom for only a few
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  weeks in autumn. Weather can also affect the
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  crop. Rain or frost at the wrong time
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  can reduce the harvest, which changes supply.
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  And finally, each plant produces just a handful of flowers, and
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  each flower has only three threads.
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  A small jar on a store shelf represents thousands of careful
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  steps by many people. Now here is a question that
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  explores how saffron plants grow.
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  Can the saffron crocus make seeds that grow into new plants?
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  No Crocusativis is sterile, so it does not produce seeds that
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  develop into new plants. Farmers multiply it by dividing
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  the corns each year. Corns can create new baby corns
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  underground, and farmers replant those to expand the field.
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  This method helps keep the plant consistent from one generation
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  to the next. Saffron also has a long history.
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  Ancient traders carried it along routes that linked Asia, Africa
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  and Europe. It was used to scent baths,
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  color cloth and flavor food. Some old texts mentioned saffron
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  as a prized gift. Today, saffron still appears in
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  perfumes and in some traditional dyes.
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  Researchers also study saffron's compounds for their effects on
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  taste, perception and smell, and for how they react to light and
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  heat and cooking. Let's talk about cooking tips
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  you can picture at home. If a recipe calls for saffron,
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  an adult might crush a few threads with a spoon and soak
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  them in a tablespoon of warm water or milk for 10 to 15
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  minutes. Then they pour the liquid and
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  threads into the dish. This step spreads the color and
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  flavor evenly. Because saffron is strong,
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  adding too much can make food taste too bitter, so cooks start
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  small. Did you know that saffron
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  threads are very light? A kitchen scale may barely
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  register a few strands. That is why saffron is often
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  sold by the gram. Even so, a few grams can flavor
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  many meals. Another interesting point is
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  that saffron's color can fade in bright light, so storing it in a
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  dark jar or a closed cabinet helps protect it.
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  Before we wrap up, here is one more trivia question that
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  reveals A harvesting habit. What time of year do many farms
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  harvest saffron? In the Northern Hemisphere?
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  Mostly in autumn, often from late September to November,
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  depending on the region and climate.
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  The flowers appear quickly and teams move fast to pick them
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  while they're fresh. Time for a quick recap.
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  Saffron is the world's most expensive spice because it is
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  gathered by hand from the stigmas of a purple flower, and
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  each flower gives only three red threads.
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  The plant is called crocusativus.
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  It blooms in the fall, and it is grown from quorums, not seeds.
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  Iran produces most of the world's supply, with other
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  countries also contributing. Saffron's power comes from
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  natural compounds that give bright color, rich aroma and a
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  warm taste, so cooks use only a small amount.
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  Real saffron releases color slowly in water.
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  It stores best in the dark, and it shines in dishes like paella,
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  biryani and risotto. Now you know what saffron is,
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  why it is costly, how people grow and harvest it, and how it
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  brings a golden touch to food. Happy on breakfast.
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