Home › The Principles of Cookery › Saffron, Preparation Of

Saffron, Preparation Of

The bulbs of the saffron (Crocus sativus) are planted in rows six inches apart, and three from bulb to bulb, in a well-pulverised, not poor, nor a very stiff clay, in the month of July. The flowers are collected in September, and the yellow stigmas and part of the style are picked out, and dried on a kiln, between layers of paper, and under the pressure of a thick board, to form the mass into cakes. Two pounds of dried cake is the average crop of an acre, after the first planting, and twenty-four pounds for the two following years. After the third crop the roots are taken up, divided, and transplanted.