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Why not make some for yourself? Then you'll know in the future whether it's the real deal. Saffron rice is very easy: https://www.marthastewart.com/1049924/saff
by ericbarrett 5y ago
Why not make some for yourself? Then you'll know in the future whether it's the real deal. Saffron rice is very easy: https://www.marthastewart.com/1049924/saffron-rice https://www.marthastewart.com/1049924/saffron-rice
Saffron is expensive, but it takes a very small amount to deliver the flavor, so it shouldn't cost more than US$5 for enough to make this ten times.
- baby 5y agoI wouldn’t boil saffron or mix it in liquid of high temperature as it will lose most of its taste. Just add it to a warm cup of water and pour it into your dish at the very end.
- hutzlibu 5y agoI am not a great cook, but isn't this true for almost any spice?
- vlan0 5y agoNot quite. Many spices do well in a fry pan with a bit of oil. Throw in something like onions when spices become fragrant. My go-to method for most anything Mexican or South Asian.
- baby 5y agoYep, true for salt and pepper and olive oil and garlic and choriander and so many other things that people are a bit too quick to cook with. The only way to cook with these is to make it fat (fat absorbes the taste) and not cook it under high temperature. That’s why the sauce is added at the end in many chinese or japanese dishes. And of course, adding it at the end uncooked always works wonders.
- anyfoo 5y agoSalt?
- baby 5y agoYeah, salt can be added at the end instead of during cooking. Bonus: you’ll end up eating less salt for the same effect.
- anyfoo 5y agoHow does that work? Salt is literally just NaCl, how does that "lose taste" under heat? I'm curious about the mechanism if that's true, some chemical reaction where the ions bind to something else? EDIT: Asked my wife who is a biologist, and her hypothesis, if that’s true, is just that salt added later (independently of heat) just tends to still float and cluster together. So you might get more from an individual bite, especially the first few? Very different from actual spices which do break down under heat of course.
- hutzlibu 5y agoI was told, that salt added early enough, can extract the flavor of other ingredients. So the salt still taste like salt, but it makes other tastes avaiable, which can be good or bad, depending on the dish.
- baby 5y agoI've experimented a lot with that and honestly I always prefer adding salt at the end. Italians will tell you that it's blasphemous not to put salt to cook your pasta, but there's honestly 0 differences (I suggest trying both ways and seeing that for yourself). What makes a real difference when you cook pasta is cooking it in stock though. I've also noticed that a lot of salty/garlic-y concentrated products (that are probably already cooked, think Asian pastes) will conserve their taste well when cooked with. I'm still wondering why.
- zoomablemind 5y ago> ...how does that "lose taste" under heat? My experience (limited as is), if salt is added in the boiling water prior to putting veggies or meat, it would be eventually absorbed and also diluted with the moisture and the flavor of the veggies and meat. This also reduces the "contrast" between the flavors, thus prompting more salt added at serving.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- mekoka 5y agoSome examples of spices that would contradict such a general principle: cinnamon, star anise, black cardamom, fenugreek, bay leaves, cloves. Strong spices tend to be used parsimoniously, but early in the cooking process, so that they could properly infuse the dish with their flavor.
- baby 5y agoTbf you’re not talking about ground spices. Also, to get flavors from anis stars, cloves, and others you need to burn/grill them first.
- ericbarrett 5y agoYou're right, I looked at the recipe I used last time (printed) and it's just steeped at 170F like tea.