Tag Archives: Turmeric

Saffron Alternatives

Let’s begin by stating the obvious.

First, saffron is a wholly unique spice. Nothing tastes “quite” like it and nothing has quite it’s earthy aroma.

On the downside however, it’s also, pound for pound, the most expensive spice in the world.

So expensive that in many kitchens, it’s quite often locked up in one of the Chef’s desk drawers.

And while a little goes a long way, it’s still an expensive proposition when choosing whether you’re or not to prepare an item on your menu that uses it.

The Red Goose Spice Company does of course carry a fine Saffron.

The good stuff.

But we also have some suggestions for you to consider in the event you want to either “stretch” the contribution your saffron makes to a particular recipe, OR, to simply use some recommended “alternative spices” to “imitate” saffron while neither suggesting it, or naming it, as an ingredient on your menu’s offerings.

For instance, just as some Chefs use a fortified stock “base” to enrichen a house made “scratch” stock, or a mid to low-priced wine to add to a braised meat dish instead of a higher priced vintage wine, or using dried herbs versus using fresh herbs, these alternative saffron “options”, offer a Chef multiple choices depending on the intended use and final intended outcome.

First, a short dissertation on saffron itself.

Coming from the Persian word zarparan, which translates into “gold strung”, saffron is a gold to crimson colored stamen of a flower, specifically a Crocus flower.

These stamens are harvested, dried and used for flavor, color and aroma in many dishes.

Although many if not most Chefs believe (or prefer) Spanish saffron in their kitchen, Iran produces the vast majority of saffron in the world.

Saffron’s high cost is due in part to the tremendous amount of labor that it takes to harvest it. It takes approximately 200 thousand stigmas from about 70,000 crocus flowers to yield 1 pound of saffron.

Not all saffron is the same quality or strength. It is graded and classified by quality, color and style, (more red is better).

As mentioned, the crème de la crème of saffron is generally considered to be the Spanish-grown La Mancha saffron, which has PDO protected status which is displayed on the product packaging.

Back to our earlier message regarding alternative spices which can be used to supplement or replace saffron in certain recipes, we emphasize that these suggestions cannot fully replicate saffron’s flavor but rather its appearance, color and a to some degree, its aroma.

They are:

Chili Threads: These slender, thread-like strands of red chili peppers, look nearly indistinguishable from saffron at first glance. They can be used in the same way and in the same dishes that saffron is used. Chili thread’s aroma is earthy and, as you would expect, has a faint aroma of dried chilis. It casts a slight orangish tint to dishes it is used in (such as rice), and, after cooking, its thread shape is reminiscent of saffron.

Turmeric: Often used in curries, in this scenario, turmeric is used primarily for its color. It also adds a slightly woody, slightly warm, bitter, black pepper-like flavor and an earthy, mustard-like aroma. In combination with Chili threads, these 2 spices alone get you in the saffron ball park.

Aleppo Pepper Flakes: Also known as the Halaby chile pepper, it’s named after the Syrian city of Aleppois.

These deep red, mild chili flakes have quite a complex flavor which most describe as slightly fruity, tangy, with hints of raisin, citrus with some background suggestions of tomato.

Similar to the preceding 2 spices, Aleppo Pepper Flakes have a earthiness and a slightly roasted taste.

It does have some heat, but at about 10,000 Scoville Units, it comes in just a bit towards the higher end of jalapenos so use it to add a bit more complexity to your blend, but sparingly, unless you’re wanting the heat to be predominant.

These 3 spices can give you a new opportunities for flavor expressions in many of your existing and possibly some new dishes on your menus.

There is no real blend recipe for these 3 aforementioned spices which can be used to imitate some of saffron signature flavors, colors and aroma. Much of that depends on the specific dish you may be using it in.

Dishes with seafood, tomatoes, wine and other aromatics, can be good opportunities for this experimentation.

One of the classic dishes in the French repertoire is Bouillabaisse from theMarseilles region. This “peasant style” fish and shellfish stew feature the catch of the day and usually contains local “fin fish”, some mollusks and crustaceans.

All swimming in a hearty broth of saffron accented tomatoes, garlic and other ingredients.

Here is a recipe which we hope you’ll enjoy. It can be adapted to be a Bouillabaisse broth-like base for whatever fish and seafood you care to bathe in it.

Mediterranean Style Seafood Sauce / Broth

Yield 1 Quart

½ cup       Vidalia Onion, 1/4″ Diced

1 tablespoon    Garlic, Fresh, Minced

1 tablespoon    Ex. Virgin Olive oil

¼ cup       Green Bell Peppers, Finely chopped

¼ cup       Red Bell Peppers, Fine Chopped

4 oz           Calamari, Finely Chopped

2 oz           Shrimp Peeled & De-veined, Fine Chopped

2 oz           Bay Scallops, Fine Chopped

3 cups      Diced, Canned Tomatoes

2 tablespoons           Tomato Paste

½ cup       Lobster or Seafood Stock (Strong)

¼ cup       Red Wine

3 or 4        Saffron Threads

OR   10 Chili Threads

         ½ teaspoon  Turmeric

         ¼ teaspoon  Aleppo Pepper

¼ tsp        Oregano, Dry

1 tablespoon    Brown Sugar

¾ tsp        Parsley Flakes, Dry

  1. Heat olive oil in sauce pot.
  2. Add onion, then peppers and garlic and sauté on medium heat until softened and transparent.
  3. Add minced calamari, shrimp and scallops and sauté until cooked and opaque.
  4. Add all remaining ingredients. Simmer on low heat for 2 to 3 hours.
  5. Add additional stock as necessary to adjust consistency.
  6. Adjust seasonings (Salt & Pepper, etc.) as necessary to taste.

Curry in a Hurry. How Curry Powder Came to America

Here in the States, when most of think of curry, we immediately think of a “golden colored powder”, and a few curry dishes that we may have tried, or enjoyed.

Nothing too complicated.

Maybe a Curried Lamb, or perhaps, a Curried Thai or Indian dish at favorite restaurant in town.

But there are a few misconceptions about the curry powder that you’ve come to know all of these years, and we thought we’d clear up a few of them here.

Curry 101, so to speak.

And “psssst”, don’t feel bad if you learn something new here, there are professional chef’s out there who, if they were honest, would have to admit that they don’t know much about curry’s interesting past either.

Let’s start from the beginning.

The Curry Tree is native to the Indian subcontinent and its leaves are used in many Indian and Asian dishes.

However, curry leaves, are not in curry powder.

Surprised?

Actually, curry powder is a blend of herbs and spices all its own. In fact, curry powder is kind of a “short cut” creation, replicating the spices most “commonly” used to make the traditional yellow curry from scratch as it was done in India for centuries. The yellow color coming primarily from the spice, turmeric.

And curry dishes aren’t exactly a new thing in America.

In fact, while curry dishes themselves originated in India and Southeast Asia, curry powder actually made its way to America via…. Wait for it…

Britain.

The Story…

The story goes that after the British arrived on our shores, (well before the battle for our own independence) so too did the East Indians, and with them, their passion for curry dishes.

By that time, even the East Indians living in Britain were reluctantly beginning to use a convenient, pre-blend form of curry powder made in India. Mainly due to the difficulty of finding the many different spices in the British markets that were needed to make their traditional curry blends.

Interestingly, by all accounts, the Indians back in India didn’t care much for this new powder that they were making for the Brits, choosing instead, to continue grinding it together from scratch with a mortar and pestle. Giving them the freedom to continue making their time honored, individual curry recipes from the spices that they had no trouble finding in their markets.

But they made this curry powder for the Brits anyway, and sent it along to them. In turn, that same powder came over on the ships from Britain to us here in the States (along with a bunch of men in fancy red coats with silver buttons interested in making it their permanent home.)

What was sacrificed in the process however, was the many different expressions of curry flavors treasured by cooks and enjoyed by so many in back in India.

They were mostly lost the western world for some time.

The “dumbing down” of curry by the creation of this one size fits all, “short cut” powder, became quite a sore subject back in its homeland, India.

So, in summary:

  1. Curry powder doesn’t use curry leaves, which are actually green. Curry leaves are however, used in some Indian cooking recipes. They are, when dried and ground, the color of…mmmm? Ground sage?
  2. Curry leaves don’t taste anything like curry powder.
  3. Curry powder is a blend of spices, not a single one.
  4. The curry powder we know it, is a “shortcut” form which didn’t come from India or in Indonesia by choice but rather for convenience.

So, now know a little something about the “blend” called Curry Powder. The yellow one.

But the word “curry” also became, over time, a phrase used to as much to denote a cooking style, as the flavor we associate it with. Much the way we use the term “barbecue” here in America.

For example, it’s often said, particularly in our Southern states, “we’re having barbecue tonight”, which doesn’t tell you what meat, or “exactly” how it may be cooked (although you can basically assume slowly and smoked), or even how it is seasoned.

You do however, generally know what you’re getting and generally the range of tastes.

Similarly, “we’re having curry” doesn’t divulge the meat, (but you can generally assume it’s braised or stewed), or for matter, exactly what type of curry it might be?

In essence, from a cooking style perspective, this is one cooking style…

This, is another…

So, beyond the “yellow” curry most people are familiar with, what are the other types of curries out there?

First, it’s important to mention that there are dozens upon dozens of different flavored yellow curry powders out there depending on the blends. And some curries are red in color, due to the addition of red chilis and some are even green.

All look and taste uniquely their own. But they are all curry blends.

The answer to the question it’s probably thousands. Especially if you also take into consideration the word ‘curry” as both the flavor AND a category of cooking method.

If this were a math problem, it would look something like this…

Cultural taste preferences, (Indian, Thai, African, Asian, British and so on), X the spice choices used, X ratios of each spice to one another, X Scoville (heat index) of chilis used (if any), X meats and other proteins used, X the cooking method employed.

In other words, thousands.

As such, curry has become globally popular and a welcome addition to menus of all types.

Of course, The Red Goose Spice Company not only has a fabulous yellow curry powder in stock, but we can also custom blend any recipe you have or that you might wish to create for your business or retail sales.

Contact us today to discuss how we can help you bring the ancient and historical flavor of curry to your customers.