Afghan Super Negin Saffron

Saffron is the dried stigma of the Crocus sativus flower, picked by hand. A small pinch releases an aroma that is earthy and floral, slightly sweet and delicately grassy, and the taste carries a subtle bitterness held in balance by warm floral notes.

Ours is Super Negin grade, hand-harvested in Herat, Afghanistan, a region recognised internationally for saffron with deep colour and intense fragrance. Super Negin is the highest grade of saffron: the threads are trimmed so that only the deep red stigma remains and the pale yellow style is removed entirely, which gives longer, thicker threads, stronger colouring power, and no filler weight in the gram you pay for. Because every thread is all stigma, a little goes a long way: a generous pinch colours a whole pot of rice, and the 5g and 10g sizes suit kitchens that cook with saffron every week.

How to use it

Steep a pinch of threads in a few spoonfuls of warm water or milk for twenty minutes, then add the liquid rather than the dry threads so the colour spreads through the whole pot. Used that way it turns rice, pilaf and biryani gold and scents them right through. It also goes into tea and warm drinks, cakes, pastries and other baked goods, soups, stews, sauces and seafood, and into saffron milk, syrups and confectionery.

Details

Also known as

زعفران, Zafran, Za'afaran, Fan Hong Hua, Safran, Zaffarano, Azafrán, Krokos, Kesar, Afghan Saffron, Saffron Threads