Saffron

Estimated price per pound: $1,500 and up Saffron, the most expensive spice, is usually sold by the gram - just a small cluster of slender red threads in a tiny glass bottle.

The threads are the stigmas of tiny crocuses, grown primarily in Spain, Iran, Greece and India. Since each flower only has three stigmas, many blossoms are needed to produce even a small amount of spice. It takes an acre of land and hundreds of thousands of flowers to produce one pound of saffron threads.

Saffron has been a key ingredient in cuisines since ancient times. Even though saffron stigmas are red, their dye is the color of egg yolks which gives the appealing yellow to such dishes as Risotto Milanesa, Paella Valenciana, St. Lucia Buns and Bouillabaisse. Fortunately, a little saffron goes a long way and most recipes call for just a pinch. If you want saffron's delicate flavor to really come to the fore, keep the other flavors and seasonings to a minimum. Enjoy saffron as a supporting player, less for its flavor than for the depth of flavor it gives a whole dish. A small pinch in a large pot of food makes a substantial change its character: The flavor is richer, fuller, and much more aromatic.

Each red stigma is like a little capsule that encloses the complex chemicals that make up saffron's aroma, flavor, and yellow dye. In order to release these chemicals, you must steep the threads. For general cooking, it's best to add saffron early on in cooking so its flavor can infuse into the other ingredients. If there's water already in the pan, just crumble in the threads. Otherwise soak them in a tablespoon of water for ten minutes before adding to the pan.

There are 200 to 300 threads per gram, and you only need a few threads at a time. You use it so sparingly that in the long run it's not much more expensive than any other spice. But be careful to invest in quality, advises Vanilla Saffron Imports president Juan San Mames. His San Francisco direct-import business currently offers saffron for $1,162.24 per pound, or $72.95 per ounce (one ounce is a little over 28 grams), and carefully vets its saffron for compliance with ISO standards. (Yes, the ISO has saffron specifications.)

Cheap saffron producers often leave in the tasteless yellow stamens, adding weight and diluting the red stigmas that give the spice its famous taste.

McCormick sells .06 ounce (1.7 grams) of saffron for $17.75 - a little over $292 an ounce.