Saffron - Filaments

Origin: Spain

Description: A product of ANTONIO SOTOS, S.L., established and located in the La Mancha region of Spain since 1912, this company is now in the fourth generation of a family business with over 100 years experience working with saffron.

Qualified by experts as the best saffron in the world, our saffron is solely produced, manufactured and packed in the La Mancha region of Spain which is made up by the following townships: Albacete, Toledo, Cuenca y Ciudad Real.

Saffron has its reputation as one of the world’s most coveted and legendary spices, and it’s used in a wide variety of cuisines. From rice to paella or risotto, in sauces, soups, bouillabaisse, or with fish, it adds a beautiful, subtle flavour to any dish that is instantly recognizable. It also adds a quintessential sunny-yellow colour to the dish.

Saffron is so special because of how it’s cultivated. Saffron is the stigma of the Crocus sativus flower, which only blooms for three weeks every fall. Each bulb produces two to nine flowers and each flower contains three long, red-orange stigmas. The stigmas are handpicked and laid in the sun for two days to dry. Every flower only produces three threads of saffron, and they have to be harvested by hand. It takes over 80,000 flowers to produce one pound of saffron, and there are 450-500 stigmas (from approximately 150 flowers) in one gram!

Harvesting time is at the end of October, beginning of November. The rose blooms at dawn and must be picked from the soil instantly. Lengthy exposure to light must be avoided, otherwise the flower withers and the stigmas lose colour and aroma.

Its scientific name (Crocus Sativus L.) comes from krokos, a word of Greek origin meaning filament and Sativus means cultivable. The gastronomic qualities of saffron are endless giving your dishes a deep and intense flavour, aroma and colour.