How to Bloom Saffron

 

I have always had a love for cooking Persian and Indian dishes at home.  There’s just something about all of the spices that are employed in the cuisine that I truly love, especially the heavy use of saffron.  And if you’ve ever made a recipe that required saffron, then you’ve probably seen the recipe calling for you to bloom the saffron.  

 

Like the old me, you probably just wrote it off as some unnecessary extra step.  I mean what the hell is blooming saffron anyways, and why exactly is it necessary?  Am I right?

 

Well, folks, it turns out I was wrong.  Blooming saffron is a fundamental step in cooking with this delicate spice, and today I am going to tell you why and how you should do it.

 

 

 

What does it mean to bloom saffron?

 

Blooming saffron is a simple process of preparing the spice so that it can be used in a recipe.  Essentially it is when you add ground up threads in some water in order to create a type of saffron tea.  It’s really as simple as that.

 

 

Why should you bloom saffron?

 

It should probably go without saying that saffron is a very expensive spice, the most expensive in fact.  Despite this, I will often see people cook with saffron in a way that doesn’t allow it to truly shine through.  I mean, we’re all making such a hefty investment on this spice shouldn’t we want to make sure that we use it at its best.  

 

Luckily that’s where blooming saffron comes in.

 

You see, like a lot of spices, saffrons needs to be exposed to either heat or liquid in order to bring out all of their aromatic flavors.  Sure that means if you are cooking something that has a liquid, such as rice, or soup, then you can just toss the saffron in. But in my experience, it just isn’t the same as when you properly bloom it first.

 

Properly blooming saffron allows the spice to open up and let all of its aromatic flavors show.  Plus it’s an incredibly easy process so there really isn’t any excuss. So let’s see how we do it.

 

How to bloom saffron

 

I have come to learn of two ways in which one can bloom their saffron.  The more traditional way, and the newer/easier way which I have just discovered from Shadi over at Unicornsinthekitchen.com.

 

 

Both ways require that you start by first grinding up the saffron threads in a mortar and pestle.  Simply place the spice in the pestle and use your muscles to grind the spice until it has become a powder.

 

 

Next, we are going to be introducing the ground saffron to some liquid.

 

Let’s start with the traditional method.  To begin you are going to want to bring some water up to a boil.  Then once the water is hot, place the ground saffron in a bowl and pour the hot water over them.  Finally, just let the saffron steep in the hot water for 5 to 15 minutes or until the water has become a dark orange hue and the fragrant aroma of saffron permeates the room.  That’s it, pretty simple, right?

 

Now, of course, this is a great method for blooming saffron, however, I have found that it has one drawback.  You see the temperature of the water needs to be just right. If it’s too cold then it will take twice as long to bloom.  And if it’s too hot then you can end up burning the spice which will result in a mildly bitter taste. There’s really a fine balance to it.  However, if you have more time on your hands then I suggest you try out the new method.

 

In this method, you run no risk of burning the saffron because instead of using boiling hot water we will be using ice cubes.  To do it simply place a few ice cubes in a bowl, and pour the ground saffron over them. Then by the time the ice cubes have melted, you will have perfectly bloomed saffron.  

 

 

Sure this method will take a bit longer, probably 30 to 40 minutes.  But I would much rather take the time to ensure that I don’t ruin the spice.