From the ground to the table
Once upon a time, the beautiful young man Krókos fell in love with Smilax, the Greek god Hermes favourite nymph. Driven by jelousy, the god turned Krókos into a flower- the Crocus Sativus Linneo, also known as saffron.
Well, maybe that didn't go quite this way, however if the historical origin of saffron is very ancient and undefined, the geographical one is given- Asia Minor.
In fact, saffron needs particular soils with specific structure and organic compound, so only grows in a few areas of the planet. Moreover, in order to aid its typical cultivation by transplanting, there needs to be a land rotation every year.
In addition to it, Saffron crocus blooms in early November, over the course of three weeks, and it is connected to seasonal conditions.
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These twenty days are strenuous and crucial for the farmers.
Saffron harvesting inflexibly takes place every day before sunrise, so that petals are still unopened and stigmas keep their aroma and flavour. And as inflexibly, the flowers are plucked by hand individually so as to prevent any damage.
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Then the crocuses are taken indoor by wicker baskets for deflowering, an ancient and accurate process carried out usually by female hands, as their fingers are smaller.
Seated around a table covered with flowers, women carefully separate the three saffron stigmas from every crocus. They have to be agile and quick, because their task must be completed by the end of the day otherwise the saffron could get spoiled, so they go on till late at night, if need be.
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Finally, the most tricky phase which, not by chance, was traditionally entrusted to the mistress of the house: the drying.
To preserve stigmas from rotting, the drying process occurs the same day of the harvest and takes a long time. Stigmas are put in sieves over wood embers and turn around over and over, so as to avoid burning or losing their properties
Once dried, saffron is stored in clothes in order to avoid its exposition to the air, which would make it lose its typical aroma.
In conclusion, given its rarity and complexity of production, it is easy to understand why saffron has always been one of the most precious product on Earth. So precious that under Henry VIII of England whoever was found out in adulterating it risked the death sentence, in particular to be buried alive with their adulterated spice.
All in all, not a great improvement compared to the Middle Age, when the villain would be sentenced to the stake.