Iranian Saffron

Iran's saffron has an exceptional and unique aromatic imprint .

The Comptoir de Toamasina offers you to buy the best saffron pistil at the best price per kilo.

When you open the box containing saffron pistil from Iran you will encounter a symphony of flavors .

Saffron is a precious spice, it has an intelligent flower and it takes time to produce the precious pistil of Iranian saffron .

Our Safran from Iran Néguine offers a singular and powerful aromatic imprint . Some saffron pistils will suffice to perfume your recipe . Intense and very long in the mouth saffron will intertwine deep metallic notes and the sweetness of honey .

A trip to the land of senses and flavors for creative cuisine.

Aromatic superb, powerful, some pistils of saffron enough to perfume your dishes. Intense and long in the mouth, this saffron intertwines deep notes and sweetness finishing on honey.

Saffron Threads Premium

SAI1

The flavor of saffron is enveloping, slightly bitter with a persistent fragrance and a blood red color. (Color of a high-end Saffron). Saffron is the king of spices with the vanilla queen, our Iranian saffron from the origins is of high quality. Saffron power: 10/10 Main notes: Tannic, slightly honeyed and metallic Saffron Category: 1 (Best Saffron...

€10.00

Saffron Premium Threads 10G

SAI10

The flavor of saffron is enveloping, slightly bitter with a persistent fragrance and a blood red color. (Color of a high-end Saffron) in 10g bottle Saffron power: 10/10 Main notes: Tannic, slightly honeyed and metallic Saffron category: 1 (The best quality of saffron) Origin: Sabzevar, in the North-East of Iran At Comptoir de Toamasina in Comptoir des...

€80.00

Buy the best saffron pistil

Saffron is our second princess after the Madagascar vanilla bean .

It is a spice that has the same nobility because also harvested and prepared by hand, impossible to mechanize production.

The saffron of Comptoir de Toamasina will be in the form of small fine filaments in the form of stigmas swollen with a beautiful blood-red color, sign of the best quality.

Our saffron pistil from Iran has a sweet flavor with hints of honey and a slightly bitter touch with its metallic hints of the best saffron harvest .

It's a spice that makes your creative cuisine travel .

The History of Saffron

The ancient and contemporary history of saffron from Iran

Iran saffron, like other saffron pistils, is called crocus sativus .

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world and the history of spices .

The saffron name will come from its home country Persia today Iran .

The word saffron comes from the Persian za'faran which means "yellow".

The oldest written record of saffron comes from the canticle bible or boasts its captivating scent .

Saffron of Iran is a symbol of purity for the Assyrians who will only pick it for young virgins .

It is the Phoenicians who will market saffron throughout Europe .

Especially in Greece , Egypt and Rome , the three richest civilizations at that time. Saffron was used to flavor dishes and as a colorant.

Did you know that Nero , a colorful figure in ancient Rome and Haendel's opera Agrippina , will respond on his passing of saffron when he returned to Rome .

Michelangelo used saffron in his paintings . The Sistine Chapel was painted with saffron as a dye .

Today Europe would have financed a rural farming program in the test phase in Afghanistan , to give an alternative to poppy cultivation .

Attention in the Indian Ocean , Reunion Island, Mauritius , Madagascar when we call a saffron spice is turmeric .

Turmeric is very different from saffron and especially less expensive.

We must go back to Portuguese and Spanish colonization to find out why the Indian Ocean Islands call saffron turmeric .

In Portuguese and Spanish we call saffron , açafrao or açafrao verdadeiro while turmeric has the name açafrao or açafrao da terra .

At the Comptoir de Toamasina , we offer much more than a simple purchase of saffron , but explanations of the history of our spices .

What is Saffron Pistil?

Saffron saffron is a spice known as Crocus Sativus which is a flower that will contain 3 pistils. Saffron is a rare and expensive spice . Saffron is known for its bitter taste and the yellow-orange color that gives dishes. It's the most expensive spice in the world .

The saffron harvest

First of all, you should know that saffron will grow on clay-limestone soil , but it must be very well exposed to the sun.

It is harvested at the beginning of November.

As for vanilla , the harvest of crocus sativus flowers is done by hand. Because the flower is fragile and must be handled with care

To have a kilo of saffron it takes about 150 000 flowers .

At the counter of Toamasina, Comptoir des spices d'excellences, we offer you to buy a saffron pistil with a rare and authentic perfume. We select a saffron that can make you travel just by opening its box with its aromatic palette.

How to choose your saffron pistils

Recognize in an instant the true of saffron

At first , we do not recommend saffron powder . It is often the very poor quality of saffron that will be reduced to powder.

We even found that in some Moroccan markets we find paprika in saffron powder .

You should also avoid buying saffron with an orange-yellow color. The only color of saffron is blood red .

The pistil must be well dry and especially not have yellowish branching or orange.

Recognize saffron pistil of excellence

To recognize a good saffron you have to feel it.

Saffron, particularly from Iran , has a honeyed , intense metallic flavor and no aftertaste .

However, it is also good to look at the color of saffron pistil.

The appearance of saffron must always be blood red which is a very good indicator of excellence. This is the best quality when there is no yellow or orange branching.

To go further in the quality and appearance of saffron

This spice is in the form of small, very fine filaments in the shape of swollen stigmas on both ends.

Intense red, blood red or a rust-red color.

The quality of saffron will be determined by three criteria:

- Its crocin content (coloring power)

- Safranal (its saffron perfume)

- Picrocrocine (bitterness of saffron)

According to many studies it is said that saffron should not have more than 12% moisture content.

You must have heard the name Nepentine , fine flower or whole saffron.

Neguine is only a commercial name: It is the saffron called premium or saffron cut .

Iran saffron of superior quality has the best rate of crocin , picrocrocin and safranal . All three of its concentrations come from the top of the crocus filament .

It is at the top of the filament that we find the saffron pistils of better quality . The filament will be cut by hand and dried later. Here we keep only the pistil with its blood red color .

The second quality we present by fine flower: the second quality. We keep the lower part of premium saffron and cut the yellow and orange parts.

Whole saffron : as its name suggests, it is the whole saffron pistil that will be dried and sold.

Buy Saffron from the World

Today, world saffron production is around 300 tons per year. 95% of production comes from Iran.

Saffron is produced nowadays:

Iran
Spain
India
Italy
Morocco
France (marginal production, we found in weppes in northern France and southern France).
Azerbaijan
Greece
Switzerland (Marginal production)
Brazil (Yes, we have seen Brazilian producers trying the adventure).

How to use saffron in the kitchen

Use Iranian saffron pistil well in recipes

Saffron is used to flavor and color all of your dishes .

The technique for pistil saffron is relatively simple.

You just have to take a little warm water and infuse 2 saffron pistils per person .

We advise you to infuse the saffron pistils at least 4 hours .

You can use your saffron everywhere.

Paella , the famous bouillabaisse , soups , vegetables , white meats and desserts .

Depending on the country where saffron is purchased, the use will be different.

In Iran we love saffron in chelow kebab , fish and chickens .

In Switzerland it is in desserts that we love it.

Saffron chocolate cream, saffron bun , rice pudding with saffron and even cheese .

Do you know the properties of saffron for health

All about saffron and its medicinal properties with a summary of world journals

In addition to its taste properties , saffron from Iran has medicinal properties .

In ancient times, saffron was used against just about all health problems. But without much success.

Today saffron is said to be the spice of happiness , because it has aphrodisiac effects , but also relaxation effects .