One other thing about saffron needs to be said. How many times have you read that it's worth it's weight in gold? Hardly. That one ounce tin of saffron a bought a few years ago cost about $50.00. Gold trades at about $470 per ounce - about nine times the cost of saffron. One other curious thing I recently learned about saffron. Saffron is grown commercially in nearby Pennsylvania, in I think Lancaster County. I have not priced this "home grown" saffron, but I've heard that it compares in price to the imported sorts. Jim McKenney Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where one recent "disappointment" was to discover that the style of Crocus nudiflorus, a species once grown as a saffron substitute, is not particularly fetching.