SC - Re: saffron

[Kerri Canepa]

>Adamantius said:

<amusing bits about safflower>

>Jehanne said:

>LOL!  Exactly the same thing happened to me, and I handled it in 
>exactly the same way... which leads to the logical question, what can 
>one actually use safflower _for_?  It doesn't smell much like 
>saffron, which is why I haven't used any of mine - I would imagine 
>the flavour would be different.  Barring subsitution for saffron, are 
>there recipes/cultural cuisines which specifically call for it?
>

Jehanne, safflower can be used as a dye. According to my friend the chemical
engineer who also plays with period dyes, there are three separate colors in
safflower; two yellows and a red. One of the yellows is water soluable and the
other two have to be extracted IIRC in alcohol where the second yellow and red
can be separated. Personally, I have not tried the alcohol part and I'm not
likely to do so. HOWEVER, if you have bags of safflower lying around and no use
for them, by all means, I will joyfully take them off your hands.

Cedrin
Princess of Oertha
and occasional dabbler in medieval dyes