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| Open House at the saffron farm |
We
spent a lovely sunny autumn afternoon visiting a local saffron farm (la
safranière) near Bordeaux. The owners
not only spent a lot of time with us explaining their product, but , as they were also vignerons, offered a tasting of the
local wines.
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| charming and very generous hosts |
It
is thought that saffron was brought to France by the Romans but it’s
cultivation died out with the decline of the roman empire. It returned with the
Moors through Spain but was again affected by phylloxera in the mid 19th century along with the
vines. Now it is again grown all over the country.
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| unusual decorations in the fields |
Handpicking
takes place in late autumn and must be done in the early morning as the flowers
wither and the stigmas loose colour and aroma during the day. More than 85,000
flowers are needed to obtain just one kilo of saffron – that’s a lot of hard
work.
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| discarded flowers |
We
decided to take the saffron jelly, various jams, a salt, an oil spray coloured
with saffron and gold flecks for decorating food at Christmas, and a syrop as
an alternative to cassis for a kir. Who knew that saffron is so versatile. Now
armed with their collection of recipes, we will be experimenting during the winter.
Expect lots of orange food !
As
an alternative to wine, wine, wine, this was an interesting diversion worth
making.
www.terrasafran.com
Bon degustation !
