[Sca-cooks] Novice Saffron User

[Alex Clark]

At 05:43 PM 11/13/2003 -0800, Ignia il Nomade wrote:
>I am now the lucky owner of 1 gram of saffron threads (yay!!) and am at a 
>loss with where to start or what to do with it. I've never used saffron 
>before (always stayed away from it - spendy!) and would appreciate any 
>tips or a good beginner recipe for it (mind you, a good "example" of 
>saffron in a dish - I'm not a novice cook ;-) )

Two general-purpose tips:
  - Use it sparingly. It's as potent as it is expensive.
  - Where most spice flavors are carried well by fats, saffron prefers 
water, so mix it with watery liquids.

Saffron was used in many period dishes, ranging from almond custard tarts 
(darioles) to cracked wheat porridge (frumenty) to sauces, soups, etc. 
Here's one that I like to use a fair bit of saffron in.

Malaches of Pork (interpreted from the Forme of Cury, with pastry dough 
adapted from various later period English sources)

    Short paste:
    3/8 c. melted butter (warm, not hot)
    1/4 c. lukewarm water
    1 egg yolk
    1 c. pastry or general purpose flour
    a small pinch of salt
    a few threads of saffron

Stir all ingredients together, adding flour or water if needed to make a 
firm dough. Chill for about 1/2 hour. Roll out and make a 9" pie shell. 
Optionally, cover edges with foil, prick with a fork or fill with pastry 
weights, and bake.

    Filling:
    about 40-50 threads saffron
    1/4 tsp. salt
    1/2 tsp. poudre fort (ground strong spices such as black pepper, long 
pepper, grains of paradise, cubebs, and maybe cloves or ginger)
    1 lb. pork, cooked, cooled, and diced or chopped
    5 oz. grated cheese (either hard or relatively firm semisoft cheese)
    1 oz. pine nuts
    3 eggs, lightly beaten

Grind saffron and mix with salt and spices. Stir all filling ingredients 
together, fill pastry shell, and bake at about 325-350 degrees F (170 C) 
for about 1/2 hour.


Henry of Maldon/Alex Clark