- [Narrator] This is saffron, and just one pound of
it can cost you $5,000. It's easily the world's
most expensive spice. The next most expensive spice? Vanilla at about $600 a pound. So, what makes saffron
so wildly expensive? For starters, saffron is a
complicated spice to harvest. Saffron comes from the
Saffron Crocus flower, and each flower has three red stigmas. That's the saffron. Just one pound of saffron
requires 170,000 flowers. The purple flowers bloom
over a six week period from late September to early December. There's also a specific
time of day to harvest them. 90% of the world's saffron is grown in arid fields in Iran. But harvesting all that
saffron comes at a price. Most saffron harvesters are women getting paid a maximum
of five dollars a day. Saffron is not only grown in Iran, it's grown in Morocco, Spain,
Italy, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, India, and
even in the United States. Why the US? Though many Americans
have never eaten saffron, the US imported 25 tons in
2013 and 46 tons in 2016. - What's so great about saffron? Over centuries, it's proven
useful in many situations. Saffron is most commonly used in cooking. - It gives paella its signature
flavor and golden color. It's also used in broths,
breads, and marinades. When saffron is broken down,
it creates a golden dye. - People have tried passing
tumeric, red marigold petals, and lily flower stigmas as saffron. But the flavor and dye
is totally different. In large quantities,
saffron can be a potent, happiness-inducing narcotic. And research suggests it may
help reduce the symptoms for Alzheimer's, depression, and PMS. Who knew this little
spice packed such a punch?
tl;dr: The stigma is saffron and each flower only has 3 stigmas and it has to be picked by hand. 1 pound of saffron requires 170,000 flowers.
Now I strangely want saffron.
"Most Americans have never tasted saffron". Is this really true? Seems crazy to me, but I'm not from the us.
Very informative video for a spice I have loved since I was a child. I always try to keep some around.
starts converting 420 grow house
What a nice man
The woman narrating this sounds like the Civ 6 announcer on their YouTube channel
Vanilla used to be WAY cheaper, like $30 a pound. Some stuff happened in the last 5 years or so that made it skyrocket. (farmers switching crops because the price was so low + natural disaster taking out a huge portion of the producers)
Wonder how long it took him to learn his second name.
I'd be about 26