saffron

sahrami

sahraminkeltainen The plant Crocus sativus, a crocus.
2009, D. H. Sanaeinejad, S. N. Hosseini, Regression Models for Saffron Yields in Iran, Daoliang Li, Chunjiang Zhao (editors), Computer and Computing Technologies in Agriculture II, Volume 1, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=DybQsneDddYC&pg=PA510&dq=%22saffron%22%7C%22saffrons%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mAOHU4PEFJCtkgWF5YGgAQ&redir_esc=yv=onepage&q=%22saffron%22%7C%22saffrons%22&f=false page 510,

Usually the maximum temperature for October, November and December in the southern parts of Khorassan–the main saffron growing area of the Iran-does not exceed 20°C, while the minimum temperature reaches 0°C.

Soupes dorye. — Take gode almaunde mylke (..) caste þher-to Safroun an Salt (..)

The Irish and Ireland people (who are frequently troubled with lice, and such as will fly, as they say, in summer) anoint their shirts with saffron, and to very good purpose, to drive away the lice, but after six months they wash their shirts again, putting fresh saffron into the lye.

Saffron is not included in American and British pharmacopoeias, but some Indian medical formulae still include it.

Saffron is the stigma of the crocus flower, which is harvested by hand, dried, and sold either in strands or ground to powder.(..)Of all the medieval spices, saffron was the most expensive, which is not surprising given that 70,000 flowers only yield one pound of dried stigmas. In the European cookbooks of the late Middle Ages, nearly all of which which reflect refined upper-class dining, saffron is ubiquitous.

Saffron is often called the “golden spice.”

(color panel)

These colours might have been expressly designed—by dissonance as much as harmony—for juxtaposition against those pouring down in brilliant rays of light from the Tiepolo; subtle yet penetrating pinks and greys, light blue turning almost to lavender, rich saffrons and cinnamons melting into bronze and gold.

The classical shades of Antiquity were the most prevalent, but along with the Venetian reds and Egyptian blues, the saffrons and ochres and indigos, were more delicate hues: of pink and cream and lilac, like shells littered upon the shore.