Meet Saffron, the World’s Most Expensive Spice

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Science, Food, History, Arts

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2018

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s the poshest spice of all, often worth its weight in gold. But saffron also has a hidden history as a dye, a luxury self-tanner, and even a serotonin stimulant. That’s right, this episode we’re all about those fragile red threads plucked from the center of a purple crocus flower. Listen in as we visit a secret saffron field to discover why it’s so expensive, talk to a clinical psychologist to explore the science behind saffron’s reputation as the medieval Prozac, and explore the spice’s off-menu role as an all-purpose beautifier for elites from Alexander the Great to Henry VIII. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:59.6	Which is a city just east of London in Essex.
1:01.8	We got out of the station, we looked around for a while until we found a man we'd never met before.
1:06.8	We piled into his car and we had no clue where he was taking us.
1:10.8	Oh, it's not a massive secret as such.
1:14.0	It's just that people think, you know, I was out of the field of saffron.
1:16.6	We can go and have some and make loads of money or whatever.
1:22.2	People think that because saffron is the world's most expensive spice.
1:27.6	And saffron is what this episode is all about.
1:30.2	It's our most bling episode yet.
1:32.2	You're listening to Gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history.
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