Iranian Saffron
Iranian saffron as one of the things to bring back from Iran
Iran is famous for its saffron (zafran in Persian). iran produce the world’s highest quality, so among the best things to take home as Iran souvenirs there is certainly the “red gold”. Especially if you live in a western country, where saffron is very expensive and hard to find a good quality.
Growing saffron is a common practice in many provinces in Iran from where it gets exported all over the world. The saffron price is very much affordable in Iran, packing is 1,2,5 grams .
Where to buy good quality Iranian saffron is all another matter.
Many saffron brands have agencies on busy streets, pastry shops, and big markets. Always prefer official agencies and brands. It’s important to buy it from reliable agencies because due to its value, some sellers add safflowers, artificial colours, oil, salt or honey to make it heavier and only a lab test can recognize it. Artificial and also real saffron colors are used to colour the low-quality saffron, unfortunately, it’s hard for customers to notice this.
The purest saffron is called “dokhtar pich” with one end of the saffron thread white and the rest red. To see if it has oil or honey, grab a thread of saffron and put it on a white paper then with one finger smash it. If anything stays on the paper or your finger other than saffron powder, then it’s not pure. If it’s hot red (not light red) with one end of the saffron thread white-ish, there is more chance it’s pure. If you buy a lot, do examine one piece on a white paper.
Saffron harvest is from late sep till end of Nov and if you travel during these period you can see saffron farms as well . best saffron farms are in Khorasan province but if you visit central part of iran we can suggest visit 2 farms in Naein and Natanz both farmers are friendly and have all kind of saffron you want in beautiful packing .
