How much of the saffron plant is edible?

[Togath]

So I'm growing some saffron(first off, why is "it grows very well in the US so obscure? I'm in the Puget Sound area and it apparently loves it here.), and I've gotten curious. Can you eat parts of the flowers beyond just the stigmas?

[Razade]

The answer is no, and four stigma's aren't really going to be a whole lot either depending on what you want to cook with it.

[Togath]

Why just four stigmas? I have a pretty decent sized patch.
And darn, had sorta hoped the flowers might be tasty or at least edible but bland.

[AMFV]

If you can grow Saffron in quantity you should be looking into selling it, not eating it. That stuff is worth more than gold by weight.

Why just four stigmas? I have a pretty decent sized patch.
And darn, had sorta hoped the flowers might be tasty or at least edible but bland.

You don't use it to eat, you use it to enhance flavor in other dishes, and it works really well.

[Razade]

If you can grow Saffron in quantity you should be looking into selling it, not eating it. That stuff is worth more than gold by weight.

It depends on the Grade. One would imagine Togath isn't growing high quality saffron out of their apartment. If they could even sell you, there are regulations and laws for that sort of thing. They'd also not be able to grow a whole pound fast enough, you need a ton of plants for it. That's why it's so expensive.

[AMFV]

It depends on the Grade. One would imagine Togath isn't growing high quality saffron out of their apartment. If they could even sell you, there are regulations and laws for that sort of thing. They'd also not be able to grow a whole pound fast enough, you need a ton of plants for it. That's why it's so expensive.

True, but it's sold by the gram. In the US it would certainly be possible to sell it in small quantity at farmer's markets and such. Even if it's quite low grade that could still make a reasonable amount of money. I mean it wouldn't be enough to sustain oneself, but I wouldn't object to a couple hundred extra dollars.

[Razade]

True, but it's sold by the gram. In the US it would certainly be possible to sell it in small quantity at farmer's markets and such. Even if it's quite low grade that could still make a reasonable amount of money. I mean it wouldn't be enough to sustain oneself, but I wouldn't object to a couple hundred extra dollars.

You can get high quality Saffron for like 20 bucks at any decent spice purveyor. I'd certainly not want to waste money on the low quality stuff, or stuff that has 0 quality control. Like a person's apartment.

[AMFV]

You can get high quality Saffron for like 20 bucks at any decent spice purveyor. I'd certainly not want to waste money on the low quality stuff, or stuff that has 0 quality control. Like a person's apartment.

Right, you wouldn't. But the people that go to Farmer's Markets are looking to get locally grown stuff. Which in many cases means like the worst crap ever apparently. so there's probably a market for it. Of course, you'd have to sell your soul to the hipster crowd, which you may or may not be willing to do, and I doubt it would make a huge amount of money, but a little money isn't bad. And it'd certainly be worth at least looking into, if you were successful at it.

[tantric]

do y'all know that saffron is psychoactive?

Trans-crocetin has been found to act as an NMDA receptor antagonist with high affinity, and has been implicated in the psychoactivity of Saffron.

NMDA antagonists are drugs like ketamine and PCP. not really surprising - dr. shulgin listed the 'essential amphetamines' decades ago. that being spices, and their essential oils, that can be easily made into psychoactive drugs, the foremost of which is sassafras->MDMA, but also dill, parlslely, nutmeg, clove, etc

[Vinyadan]

The story is that you can use saffron to make yellow stained glass windows, btw. The story about "yellow rice" is that a glass maker working for the windows of the Dome of Milan was being too creative with the ingredients when cooking rice, and his colleagues teased him, asking him if he was going to put saffron into it next. Which he did.





This tale is probably slightly shifted - saffron yellow was used for paintings but didn't resist high temperatures well enough to be used for glass, so a silver derivative was normally used. Although I wouldn't be too surprised if someone actually learned a way to prepare it for use with glass that was later kept secret and forgotten.

[Icewraith]

Why just four stigmas? I have a pretty decent sized patch.
And darn, had sorta hoped the flowers might be tasty or at least edible but bland.

To indicate real quality, you need to be six stigma certified.

[Togath]

You make it sound like I want it for selling, not curry.

[Icewraith]

You make it sound like I want it for selling, not curry.

No, but Six Sigma is a program businesses use to curry favor. Maybe there's a saffron one for curry flavor!

[Togath]

No, but Six Sigma is a program businesses use to curry favor. Maybe there's a saffron one for curry flavor!

Aha~ I didn't get the pun.