NB:Thismaynotbeaword-for-wordtranscript.
WhyRealSaffronIsSoExpensive
Narrator:Evenintheexpensiveworldofspices,saffronstandsout.Andrealsaffroncancostyouover$10,perkilogram.Soughtafterforthousandsofyearsasaspice,adye,andamedicine,youneedoverflowerstomakejust1gramofsaffron.Andthestuffyouhaveathomeinthecupboardcouldwellbefake.Sojustwhatmakesthisspicesoexpensive?
SaffronistheredstigmaoftheCrocussativus.Eachcrocushasthreesmallstigmasthathavetobepickedcarefullybyhand.Thisminusculeharvestmeansthattheamountyougetfromeachflowerisroughly0.grams.Nomachinecandothedelicateworkrequiredtoharvestthesethinthreads.Anditcantake40hoursofhardmanuallabortoproducejust1kilogramofhigh-qualitysaffron.Growingtheplantsisn’texactlyeasy,either.
DavidSmale:They…they’reactuallycalledcorms,butthey’relikeabulb,basically,like,youknow,aflowerbulb.So,themoreflowersperbulbyoucanget,andthebiggertheflowers,really,andthatalldependsonhowyoulookafterit,howyougrowit,theclimate.So,forexample,ifitrainsjustbeforeharvest,wegetbiggerflowers.Ifit’sverydryjustbeforeharvest,theflowersaresmaller.Soyoulookafterthecropduringtheyearbyhand,andyoupicktheflowersbyhand,andyouprocesstheflowersbyhand.
Narrator:Oncethecropstartsflowering,harvestershavetoworkfasttomakesuretheycanpickitallintime.Almostallofthesaffronplantedcanflowerwithinoneweekoftheyear.Andtomaintainthequality,theflowersarebestpickedfirstthinginthemorning.Qualityiskeywhengrowingsuchaprecisecrop.
Andthetasteofthesaffrondependsontherainfall,temperature,andsoil.Kashmirisfamedforproducingsomeofthehighest-qualitysaffronintheworld.
AshiqRashid:InallofKashmir,thisredsoilismostlyfoundhere.Andthisredsoilisnaturallyfertilizedforsaffron.Thelandsofotherareasrequirequitealotofhardwork.Youneedtoputthingslike