Saffron Bonanza
Jane McGary (Wed, 06 Nov 2013 09:57:02 PST)
Lee wrote
I have always wondered how in the world the first people to try the
styles in cooking thought to do so. I can understand throwing
flowers into a cuisine, the whole flower, like squash blossoms or
nasturtium petals. But just the styles? What were they thinking?
I believe that saffron was historically used more as a dye than as a
flavoring. I've seen Elizabethan recipes implying that banquet
specialties were "gilded" by being colored with saffron. It is also
used to dye cloth. Annatto and turmeric are also used more as
coloring than as flavoring. Not all people like the taste of saffron.
I don't bother to collect it because it tastes unpleasant to me; if I
want to "gild" rice or some other dish, I'd rather use turmeric.
Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA