Saffron, and how not to waste it

The most expensive thing in our kitchen, and most people ruin it in the first thirty seconds.

We buy our saffron from the same supplier in Mashhad we have used since 2009. It arrives in threads, never ground, because ground saffron is where the cheating happens.

The mistake almost everybody makes is dropping the threads straight into a hot pan. Saffron is not a spice you fry. Grind a pinch with a little sugar, pour over two tablespoons of warm — not boiling — water, and leave it for twenty minutes. What you get is a deep red liquid that colours a whole pot of rice.

A gram does about forty portions if you treat it properly, and about eight if you do not.