Saffron: Fool’s Gold?

 

Saffron threads.

Is this real saffron? Maybe not, as it was very cheap. I bought it because I trusted the labeling with the store’s trademark. It stated, “Ingredients: saffron. May contain traces of cereal with gluten, frutos cáscara (nuts?), mustard and sesame.” Was dye among the traces? 

The threads of saffron appear uniformly crimson, whereas my La Mancha saffron with denominación de origen shows variations in color. The cheap saffron has a very slight aroma, whereas “real” saffron is quite pungent—a warm scent of honey, hay and floral perfume that I think of as exotic. When I crushed the threads and added hot water, the infusion turned immediately bright yellow-orange. My authentic Spanish saffron takes longer to infuse. 

Saffron (azafrán) is expensive because it’s extraordinarily labor intensive to produce. It takes the tiny stigmas of 75,000 crocus sativus to make a pound of the spice. The mauve-colored crocuses must be hand-picked and the delicate stigmas plucked out by hand. Most saffron sold in Spain and globally comes from Iran, although it is not usually so-labeled. Iranian saffron is good quality and cheaper than Spanish saffron.

So much for my doubts. But, does it really matter? Saffron has long been an ingredient in special foods, those served on fiesta days, for weddings and baptisms. But, for ordinary day-to-day cooking, Spanish home cooks may use artificial yellow coloring.

La comida amarilla, the “yellow meal,” is beloved in Andalusia. Rice dishes such as paella, of course, but many other dishes as well. Yellow spice with green vegetables, with potatoes and noodles, in fish dishes, in stews with almond sauce. 

White fish, green peas and golden saffron sauce.

Serve white rice with the saffron sauce. Or, cook potatoes right in the sauce.

This dish of delicate hake in saffron sauce is quite elegant. It’s a refined version of pescado en amarillo, fish in yellow sauce, a Cádiz specialty. It can be made with any fish available—cazón (dogfish, a kind of shark), corvina, skate, bacalao. The Cádiz version usually has potatoes cooked in the sauce. If you want to prepare it that way, use double the quantity of liquid and cook the potatoes until tender before adding the fish.  

Everything—potatoes and fish—submerged in the yellow sauce will turn yellow. If you want the fish to stay white, cook it on top of the sauce and lift it out carefully. 

Hake in Saffron Sauce

Merluza al Azafrán

If possible, buy a whole hake and use the head, bones and trimmings to make a flavorful fish stock. Add shrimp heads and shells, if available, for added color and flavor to the stock. If you've got a cooked carrot from the stock, mash a piece of it and add to the saffron sauce.

Crush saffron threads, infuse them in hot water.

Serves 4.

4 (4-ounce) fillets of hake

Salt

¼ teaspoon saffron threads

¼ cup hot water

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves chopped garlic

2 slices cooked carrot, mashed (optional)

¼ cup white wine

1 tablespoon flour

1 ¼ cups fish stock

1 cup shelled peas

Chopped parsley to garnish

Sprinkle the fish lightly with salt and let it come to room temperature.

Crush the saffron and add the hot water to it. Let the saffron infuse 5 minutes.

Heat the oil in a cazuela or skillet and sauté the chopped onion on medium heat. Do not let it brown. Add the garlic and continue sautéeing, 5 minutes. Add the carrot, if using. Add the wine and cook off the alcohol. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the fish stock. Stir until the sauce thickens slightly. Add salt to taste. Cook the sauce 10 minutes, adding the peas during the last 3 minutes. Sauce can be prepared up to this point in advance of cooking the fish.

When ready to cook the fish, heat the sauce. Place the fillets in the sauce skin side up. Cover the pan and cook on moderate heat 4 minutes, or until fish flakes easily. 

Spoon some of the sauce and peas onto serving plates. Lift the fish out of the pan with a spatula and serve a fillet on each plate. Garnish with parsley.

More recipes with saffron:

Saffron Ice Cream.

Chicken with Saffron Rice.

Yellow Potato Casserole.

Orange-Saffron-Sherry Olive Oil Cake.

Potatoes in Garlicky Saffron Sauce.