I love experimenting with spices. Love. I have my favorites such as sage & thyme for pasta sauces or oregano & parsley when I’m whipping up a Mexican dish, but there’s nothing quite like discovering a new way to, well, spice things up. Thankfully my husband shares my passion for cooking, tasting and being plain old adventurous with food - so this week we’re experimenting with saffron.
Saffron has been cultivated by people for thousands of years, though for a while it was more valued for it’s color than it’s taste. Derived from the flower saffron crocus, it was purportedly used 50,000 years ago to create the yellow dyes in cave paintings. Eventually it was cultivated and traded throughout Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean basin, finding it’s way into foods, medicines and even magic potions. Cleopatra bathed in saffron scented water, Alexander the Great used it on his battle wounds, and Greek courtesans added it to their perfumes and mascaras, not to mention divine offerings. It’s easy to see why saffron was so valuable in ancient times: not only did it taste good, but the golden color it produces is reminiscent of gold. Indeed, that is likely why a saffron-gold hue has been associated with joy and happiness in Near and Middle Eastern cultures for a very long time. Today saffron is by far the most expensive spice in the world, costing $20 for less than a tenth of an ounce. And it’s no wonder considering it takes an acre of land containing thousands of flowers to produce only a few pounds of the spice.
Probably the most common application of saffron, cuisine-wise, is as an ingredient in a wide variety of rice dishes. As we browsed through recipes, I was surprised to discover how often it appears in Sephardic culture, where it has become a traditional food on Friday nights and a holiday tradition. I’m going to veer off on a slight tangent here to tell you that the Sephardim are Jews who come from Spain and Portugal. I’ve recently developed a keen fascination with their history and especially their historical language: Ladino, which is a mixture of Hebrew and Castilian Spanish. It’s a beautifully lyrical tongue, an example of which you can listen to in one of my favorite songs, “Ija Mia Mi Kerida.” (You can also download it in a zip file here)
Rice, being white, easily absorbs all the gorgeous color saffron has to offer so we decided to make “Arroz con Azafran,” literally meaning “Rice with Saffron.” It’s a simple sounding dish… until you realize that it’s served with a mouth-watering fruit topping of raisins, apricots, dates and caramelized onions. Now that’s what I call good eats! (Yes, we are AB devotees.)
Saffron Rice with Fruit Topping (Arroz con Azafran)
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Ingredients:
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
- 3 tablespoons hot water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil*
- 1 large onion or 10 scallions (white parts only), diced
- 2 cups long-grain rice
- 4 cups vegetable stock, heated.*
- Kosher salt to taste (a pinch or two, depending on how salty your broth is)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil*
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 cup of apricots, chopped.*
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pitted dates
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- You can also add 1 cup of sliced almonds
For the fruit topping:
Note: Items marked with an * have been added or modified
Cookware: Large sauce pan with lid, medium skillet.
Crumble the saffron in a bowl or pound it into a powder using a mortar and pestle. Add the hot water and let the mixture steep briefly.
Making the Rice: In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion (or scallions) and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir until opaque, about 3 minutes.
Stir in the hot vegetable stock, saffron mixture, and salt. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, about 18 minutes. (As the rice cooks start the fruit topping, instructions below.) Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for about 10 minutes.
To make the topping: In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it turns a light golden color, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the apricots, dates, raisins and almonds (if using), then reduce the heat and cook, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes.
Fluff your rice, sprinkle with fruit topping, then serve warm. 
Personalize it: You could also add/substitute seedless grapes, toasted pine nuts, or dried currants to this recipe. And if saffron is unavailable you can use 1 teaspoon of turmeric for every 1/2 teaspoon of saffron. Experiment and see what you like!
This delicious recipe is from: Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World by Gil Marks.
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This entry was posted on Friday, September 29th, 2006 by Ariela and is filed under Cultural, Food History, Jewish, Main Dishes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
21 Responses for "Arroz con Azafran"
This looks delicious. I love saffron, for the color and the taste. And the amount of flowers necessary to make it adds to to it’s allure. But, my love for cilantro tops all other herbs! Love your site–it’s special!
Thanks Sher! I love cilantro too, especially when you put it in a taco w/ chicken from a nice, hot bowl of tlalpeno soup. :yum:
Love saffron, we make a chicken dish with saffron and preserved lemons served with cous cous. Delicious. My husband was actually born in a village a few miles from Saffron Walden a town that in the middle ages was one of the biggest growers of saffron in England.
Hi Ari! I just took a peek at your site and LOVE what you have done to it - all in a month! while in grad school! AND working as a teacher! Great job
Saffron rice is one of my favorites. The next time I make some, I will try out your topping recipe.
I wish I liked cilantro
It would make it so much easier to munch quacamole , salsa or California Pizza Kitchen’s BBQ chicken pizza when I go out. It really isn’t used in Korean cooking, so it tood a Vietnamese spring roll mom made one day for me to figure it out. Dad & I both felt physically ill after biting into a single bit of cilantro, so I avoid it like the plague.
I adore a bit of curry powder in chicken salad, however. Throw in some avocado, black beans, mandarin oranges (granny smith apples, grapes, pineapple…whatever’s on hand) and shove it all into a toasty pita with a dab of homemade hummus. Yeah. I like that.
Oh, yummy, yummy yummy! I’m a rice eater and love rice, Your rice looks delicious! The first time I heard about saffron was when I made paella. I was shocked that it was sooooo expensive! Do you know why that is so?
Paz
Oh, I’d like to tag you for the BUTTERFLY EFFECT meme on my blog. Hope you can participate!
Oh, that sounds lovely! And I bet it smells absolutely wonderful.
HI Ari thanks for visitng my site. I’ve saved this to my delicious to make. looks fabulous. I love your photo site and have included in my links.
Thank you for the informative post about saffron. You know I always say I’m going to try to cook with it more and I never do. You’ve inspired me!
mmmm, delicious! xlnt idea to crush the saffron in a mortar and pestle first. that solves the problem i always have in dissolving it thoroughly. your rice looks wonderful! now would be a good time for that interactive food blogging you talked about
I admit I know absolutely nothing in terms of what spice goes in what dish, but that doesn’t stop me from experimenting. One time I added this seedy little spice to some veggies I was sauteing. Little did I know the holed cap wasnt on right and a whole slew of it came pouring out. It looked like a team of ants had attacked my poor vegetables. It’s amazing how many mishaps can occur while cooking.
Thyme and sage are two of my fav’s as well!!
I love this post and information about saffron! I had no idea of all its uses throughout history. Um Um, this rice looks so delicious… if only we could smell it.
Saffron is the most amazing ingredient! There is something so earthy and satisfying about the taste, the smell and the golden color. The rice looks just gorgeous! Baking and Books are my favorite pursuits, as well, so I am heading for the cookbook shelf and checking out this recipe in Olive Trees and Honey. Your site is beautiful — can’t wait to explore further!
I made this last night and it was excellent. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so happy to hear that Barbara! You made my night.
What a lovely way to break the fast! I’m writing about saffron later this week, too — I think it’s the color — which is the color of fall foliage here in New England — that draws me to saffron in the fall. Saffron rice is wonderfully addictive. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
i love saffron! i think it’s very different from turmeric, though the cause is similar when using too much in a dish. but being is expensive, it makes itself very special on the plate.
This is so going on my list of exotic new things to try. Where do you find such amazing dishes?
Here via blogexplosion, but I had to comment because 1) I love Alton Brown (well, his shows, not him personally) and 2) you did a great job discussing saffron.
Thanks Chris! Always happy to meet a fellow AB fan.