Parmika: 2016

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Food Recipes with SAFFRON

Saffron appears in favorite dishes of lots of countries all over the world. It is the best option to give fantastic color, aroma and taste to your dishes and a good way to decorate your foods. You can make drinks and sweets with it and take advantage of its health benefits.

Back in the history, saffron is used in Moorish, Mediterranean and Asian cuisines. Its most common function is to give yellow color to rice, as in festive Indian food named Pilaus and in Risotto Milanese, where its delicate flavor make it the most famous Italian rice dish. It combines well with fish and seafood, famous as a key ingredient of Spanish paella as well as bouillabaisse. In England, saffron is probably best known for its use in Cornish saffron buns where it is paired with dried fruit in a yeast cake.

At below we put some food recipes that use saffron as an ingredient from famous food recipe websites. You can use these recipes and our High Quality Saffron to make memorable moments for yourself and your family.

Food recipes with saffron:

Saffron Rice with Chorizo and Peas

Lamb Chops with Pomegranate Sauce and Saffron Pilaf

Seared Mahi-Mahi with Saffron Risotto and Mango Sauce

Saffron Rice

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/saffron-rice-recipe.html

Saffron Basmati Rice

Chicken Scallopine with Saffron Cream Sauce

Tagliatelle with Saffron, Seafood, and Cream

Mussels with Saffron Mayonnaise

Linguine with Seafood in Saffron Broth

Shrimp and Saffron Risotto

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Saffron and Olive Salsa

Pancetta and Saffron Rice

Saffron Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Saffron Roasted Cauliflower

Veal Scaloppini with Saffron Cream Sauce

Pappardelle in Saffron Cream

Mussels and Fennel with Saffron Cream Sauce

Shellfish and Chicken Paella with Saffron Rice Chorizo and Peas

Dessert and Drink Recipes with SAFFRON

Health Benefits of Saffron

Saffron has some health benefits as following:

- Saffron contains plant-derived compounds known to have anti-oxidant which have disease-preventing and health-promoting properties. Saffron threads have essential volatile oils but the most important is Safranal, which gives saffron its distinct special flavor.

- It has many non-volatile active components, including α-crocin, a carotenoid compound, which gives the stigmas their golden yellow color. It also contains other carotenoids including Zeaxanthin, Lycopene, α- and β-carotenes. These are important antioxidants that helps protect body from stress, cancers, infections and acts as immune modulators. The active components have many therapeutic applications in many traditional medicines as antiseptic, antidepressant, anti-oxidant, digestive and anti-convulsant.

- Saffron is a good source of minerals like copper, potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, selenium, zinc and magnesium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps control heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese and copper are used by the body as co-factors for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron is essential for red blood cell production.

- It must be noted that no one will eat an ounce of saffron in one sitting; recipes usually call for half a teaspoon or less, but examining an ounce is a good way to determine the nutritional aspects of this intriguing spice. First, the manganese content is off the charts at nearly 400% of the daily recommended value! Everything else seems a little chintzy after that, but the next-largest nutritional quantities also are quite impressive: vitamin C : 38%; magnesium : 18% and iron : 17%. Potassium and vitamin B6 both impart 14% of the daily recommended value.

- Manganese helps regulate blood sugar, metabolize carbohydrates, and absorb calcium. It also helps form tissues, bones, and sex hormones. Vitamin C is an infection fighter, iron purifies your blood, and the vitamin B6 content helps form red blood cells and assures nerves will function as they should. Potassium helps balance fluids in cells, which, if low, can cause painful muscle cramps.

- Also saffron contains more than 150 volatile compounds, among others. Picrocrocin, for instance, is the main substance responsible for the strong taste. Safranal brings saffron its characteristic odor and fragrance. Crocin, which delivers the intense orange color, is an indication of this spice's medicinal qualities, i.e. its powerful carotenoids and antioxidants that can protect your body from free radical damage.

Safety precaution:

High doses of saffron can act as uterine stimulant and in severe cases can cause miscarriage. Therefore, pregnant women may be advised to avoid this spice in the diet.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

How to choose, How to consume, SAFFRON

How to choose a high quality saffron?

Saffron is the most expensive spice and has a lot of culinary and health benefits. So, for a buyer it is so important to be able to buy authentic, fresh and pure saffron. Because of the high price of saffron, counterfeit or low quality saffron could be found easily in the market, so at below we list some tips that help you choose the real, pure saffron:

- There are some other spices that can produce yellow color similar to saffron, but the flavor and taste is completely different. Safflower, Turmeric, Marigold blossoms and Annatto seeds have this ability and can be sold as fake saffron.

- Always try to buy dried whole stigma (pistils) instead of powdered saffron. Saffron threads can be crushed to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle. We do not recommend buying powdered saffron, as it is so frequently adulterated.

- Do not be fooled into thinking that saffron’s quality is tied to saffron’s price. In other words, saffron’s price is tied to how much saffron is harvested in a particular country and how many middlemen handle it before it reaches you. At present time the biggest producer of saffron is Iran, while the biggest distributers are other countries.

- Fresh saffron should feature bright crimson-red color all over it and in high quality saffron this is uniform. When it is rubbed between fingers, should release a very pleasant aroma and stain golden-yellow. Threads must be dry and brittle to the touch. Saffron threads bearing white streaks or light patches are considered low quality saffron and when light specks appear in its powdered form, it suggests adulteration.

- Most specialty food shops sell saffron, but if it has sat on the shelves for too long, it may have lost flavor, so if you want to buy saffron from local shops look for bright red color saffron. Dark red color ones may have been a little old. Bear in mind that good quality and fresh saffron has less than 1 year old and this can be more beneficial for you.

- Choose well-sealed containers and keep it in a cool, dark and dry place.

- If you see these features in saffron you should be careful, because probably it is fake saffron:
a) Long red threads: It means that the whole saffron thread has been tinted.
b) A very uniform red color: Again, the threads could have been dyed.
If you want to test saffron to see if it has artificial color or no, immerse a little thread of product in milk or warm water and if the color of water or milk changes immediately, then the saffron is just counterfeit. Real saffron must soak in milk or warm water for at least 10 to 15 minutes prior to release its red color and aroma.

Saffron has a distinct flavor that comes from chemical compounds in it such as Picrocrocin and Safranal. It also contains a natural carotenoid chemical compound, Crocin, which gives saffron its golden-yellow hue. These traits along with its medicinal properties make it a valuable ingredient in many cuisines worldwide. So another important subject about saffron is the method of using it for cooking or making drinks. If you do not choose a suitable method, you can’t extract all aroma and color of the saffron and actually you are wasting your money.
Normally, very little saffron is required for culinary purposes and the key is to distribute it evenly throughout the dish being prepared. You should take note that saffron needs moisture to release its flavor and color, so in our mind the best method to prepare saffron for consuming it, is as below:

How to prepare saffron for consumption?

For consuming saffron, at first it should be pulverized very well. For pulverizing it, usually it is used some small hand grinders (called saffron grinders). Put a little bit of saffron threads on the grinder and rub it with the handle very well. For making more pulverized saffron, you can put a little bit of sugar in the grinder together with the saffron, it will help grinding better and smoother. This step is so important because extract of saffron will be more when it is finer.
The next step is brewing saffron. In this step you should put some (amount you want to consume immediately) fined saffron resulted from the previous step in a glass and then pour some hot water (not boiling) on it (a quarter of the glass) and mix well, then cover the glass with lid. You should wait 20-30 minutes to let the saffron brew well and the extract and aroma of saffron releases by hot water.
Now the liquid saffron is ready to use and you can mix it with different types of foods, sweets, drinks or you can pour it on the foods to decorate them and give them an excellent aroma. Take note that liquid saffron should be kept in the fridge. It will last up to 7 days on the fridge, so prepare liquid saffron as much as you want to consume immediately.

Try to pulverize saffron as much as you consume in 3 weeks, because in this shape the saffron will lose its aroma. You can keep threads of saffron in a tight container in a dark, cool and dry place for years. Remember to keep it away from the light since light rays oxidizes the pigments in saffron and offsets its flavor.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

5 interesting facts about saffron! Have you ever tasted real saffron?

1- Do you know that in “Alibaba.com” you can find saffron with price between 10 to 30 US$ per KILOGRAMS which is not really saffron(I have no idea where it comes from, they say they can produce it as much as 5000 Kg. per month !!!), meanwhile the real saffron is also can be found in Alibaba with a price between 1800 to 2300 US$ per kilograms.

2- There is a flower similar to Saffron named Safflower which is similar to saffron in color, but very different in taste, aroma and health benefits and is much cheaper than saffron.

3- Iran is responsible for 90~95% of the total production of saffron all over the world, and most of its products is exported. Some of Iran's dry eastern and southeastern provinces, produce most of its Saffron. In 2005, Iran grossed some 230 tonnes (230,000 kg) of dry threads, or 93.7 percent of the year's global saffron production. In the same year, second-ranked was Greece which produced 5,700 kg. Morocco and the Kashmir, tied as the next-highest producers, each one produced 2,300 kg.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_and_use_of_saffron]

4- You can detect real saffron by it’s taste and aroma, but if you are not familiar with it enough, you should know that it’s aroma and taste will reveal when you grind it well and then solve it in very hot water and let it be there for 20-30 minutes. After that you can have a better judgement about it. BUT take note that real saffron is NOT completely soluble in the water, yet after solving it in hot water, you should be able to see some dark red dots in the water.

5- Do you know that saffron has some health benefits including anti-depression, anti-cancer and skin benefits.

For more information about Saffron, read this: What is saffron?

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Handmade gifts and crafts recently added to our etsy shop

Some interesting hand-made crafts recently is added to our etsy shop and below I put their photos. They are so simple to make, but very catchy and pretty and suitable for giving to a friend or family as a gift.
They are included of stained glass panels, some small glass panels with stained glass drawings, stone key chains and stone bracelets.
Stained glass is an old art, but it's combination with modern art is so beautiful. Stone key chains have some fantastic paintings and are completely washable.
If you are interested in them, you can buy them from our etsy shop at :

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ParmikaHandicrafts