[Sca-cooks] Onion Juice - and Saffron measurements

[Ysabeau]

Both of these were "mancha" saffron from Spain. The big difference was that
one (more expensive) was a brand name (Spice Islands or McCormick) and the
other (cheaper) was directly imported from Spain. Go figure...the price of
marketing.

Ysabeau


On 3/6/07, Pixel, Goddess and Queen <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com> wrote:
>
>
> On Tue, 6 Mar 2007 ranvaig at columbus.rr.com wrote:
>
> >> I have a question about saffron measurements. Someone gave me a recipe
> that
> >> was redacted and I'm trying quintuple it. She said 1/2 tsp of Saffron
> for
> >> 2.5 cups of cooked rice. Now, if I'm quintupling that recipe, would I
> need
> >> to quintuple the saffron? A) It is hideously expensive and B) It
> doesn't
> >> necessarily function the same way as other spices. Any ideas?
> >
> > A quick google for saffron rice, found recipes for 1 c uncooked rice
> > using 1/2 tsp saffron. 1 1/2 c rice to 2/3 tsp saffron, 1 c rice to
> > 1/8 tsp saffron, 2/5 c rice to 1/2 tsp saffron, 1 c rice to a pinch
> > of saffron,  1 1/2 c rice to "enough saffron to color", or 500 kg
> > rice to "large pinch" of saffron
> >
> > Its going to depend on the quality of the saffron, you probably need
> > to test with the same brand you will actually use.  The expensive
> > saffron might need less... or it might not.
> >
> > I'd start with 2 c of rice to 1/8 tsp saffron and see how much color
> > you get, but 1 c rice to 1/8 tsp sounds about right to me.
> >
> > Ranvaig
>
> You're going to need more saffron if you're actually using it for flavor
> rather than for just color. Also, check to make sure that the cheaper sort
> of "saffron" is really pure saffron and not safflower. I can get Mexican
> saffron at the local grocery store for much, much cheaper than real
> saffron, but that's because it isn't the same thing. Mexican saffron
> (asafran/azafran) is safflower, which is used for color but not for flavor
> (and you can dye silk pink with it, but that's another digression
> entirely).
>
> Real saffron (Crocus sativus L., the autumn crocus) is anywhere from
> $6-10/g (yes, that's gram) while safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L., a
> thistle) is more like $2/oz.
>
> So, to sum up--if you want color, safflower is a perfectly reasonable
> substitute. If you want flavor, it does not substitute for saffron.
>
> YIS,
>
> Margaret FitzWilliam
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