SC - saffron

[Philip & Susan Troy]

CBlackwill at aol.com wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 3/29/00 12:18:00 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> stefan at texas.net writes:
> 
> > ne of the main things to be aware of is to make sure you are actually
> >  getting saffron and not an imitation.
> 
> Is there such a bird as "imitation saffron"?    I would think that U.S. Truth
> in Menu Laws (or Standards of Fill, etc) would prohibit the sale of something
> labeled saffron, if it was not really saffron (of some grade or another.)  Of
> course, this is not a U.S. only list we are on, is it? Caveat Imptor

I think one problem for the unwary is that some languages and cultures
have some built-in equivocation, causing confusion for people who don't
understand this. For example, osfor or safflower stamens, sometimes used
in places like Mexico as a reddish-yellow food coloring, are known in
Spanish as azafran. Yesterday I saw a package of Sazon Goya (don't ask!)
which said on the label, con azafran e culantro.  The ingredients list
indicates safflower, not saffron. This may also be a matter of either
ignorance or duplicity. Recently somebody brought to my home as a gift a
bag of safflower, telling me it was Turkish saffron. I did have reason
to believe it was Turkish, but it definitely wasn't saffron. I thanked
the guest graciously, and quietly addded the bag to my collection of
safflower that people keep giving me, telling me it's saffron. Somewhere
along the line somebody made a mistake or deliberately misled somebody
else, and these misimpressions can travel.  

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com