SC - Saffron

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

I lost the original post from the lady who lamented that a recipe she 
followed had too much saffron in it for her taste.

As has already been observed, medieval recipes rarely give quantities.
Even in the late period Spanish recipes which often give proportions or 
even measurements for spices, saffron is usually spoken of in vague 
terms, whether it's "a little" or "a great deal".  Here's a typical recipe 
from de Nola (Spanish, 1529) for a spice mix for peacock sauce:
"Four ounces of cinnamon; one ounce of cloves; one ounce of ginger; 
enough saffron to color the sauce well; let it be well ground and sifted; some 
add grains of paradise."

Unless it's one of the rare recipes that tell you to use "a great deal" of saffron, 
you can get away with just a small amount.


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net