La Mancha Saffron

Name: La Mancha Saffron
Brand: Frantoio Grove
SKU: FG-LMS-JR
Price: 25.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Price

$25.00

Description

Bright red, intensely fragrant saffron threads from La Mancha, Spain, sourced through longtime spice importer Buddy Born, who has spent decades working directly with the families who grow and harvest it.

Use it where a little saffron can carry the dish: rice, seafood, broths, sauces and baking.

1 gram

Why This One

La Mancha has a long history with saffron, and this one comes to us through our friend Buddy Born, whose relationship with the region goes back decades. Buddy was introduced to genuine La Mancha saffron in 1984 and eventually traveled there, meeting the grower families and becoming a direct importer.

The flowers are harvested by hand, the tiny red stigmas are separated from each flower, and the threads are carefully toasted to develop and preserve their aroma. It is an enormous amount of work for a very small amount of saffron. We keep it whole so you can see exactly what you’re working with.

Tasting Notes

The first thing that struck us was the color. Bloom the threads in water and they release a startling orange-red color that turns risotto a deep, brilliant gold.

The flavor follows: intense and distinctly saffron, but also lively, aromatic and nuanced. After cooking with good store-bought saffron while developing our risotto recipes, we found ourselves using less of this and getting considerably more from it.

Ingredients

100% whole saffron threads.

How to Use

Saffron needs a little attention before it goes into the pot. Rather than adding the dry threads directly to a dish, bloom them first in a small amount of liquid to begin extracting their color and aroma, then add the whole thing.

Risotto Milanese is the obvious place to start. It’s a remarkably simple dish—rice, shallot, white wine, broth, butter, Parmigiano and saffron—which is exactly why good saffron gets to matter so much.

But don’t hoard it waiting for an occasion worthy of the jar. Make the risotto on Tuesday. Make it for your partner. Make it because the corn you bought this morning looks incredible and suddenly corn-and-saffron risotto sounds like dinner.

Recipe Ideas

Risotto Milanese

Corn & Saffron Risotto