Saffron cheese

 

The latest cheese in the Van der Heiden Kaas assortment: Dilano Saffron, Gouda cheese enriched with the king of spices: Negin saffron.

 

Where does saffron come from?

The saffron is derived from the Crocus Sativus. This is a beautiful, purple crocus with red pistils. These pistils are harvested by hand and then thoroughly dried in drying cabinets. The pistils are categorised based on their quality. Only the most beautiful are pronounced Negin saffron.
In Europe, Negin saffron is recognised through the ISO 3632 Class 1. This is the highest European saffron class.

 

Where saffron is grown?

The Negin saffron used in our Dilano Saffron is grown in Iran. The Ehtesham family cultivates this king among spices in the vicinity of the city of Qayen. The family has practised this craft for over 150 years. The South Khorasan province, in which the city of Qayen is situated, is famous for the exceptionally high-grade saffron cultivated here.

 

Saffron name meaning

The name Saffron comes from the Latin ‘safranum’. The Latin ‘safranum’, in turn, comes from the Persian word زعفران (za’ferân), which finds its origins in the Arabic زَعْفَرَان (za’farān), which is a conjugation of the adjective أَصْفَر (aṣfar), which denotes the colour yellow. That makes sense, since products to which saffron is added develop a deep, yellow-orange colour.

 

Why is saffron expensive?

The high price of saffron is due to the way this spice is cultivated. The cultivation and harvesting of saffron crocuses (Crocus Sativus) are done by hand. A single flower only has three pistils, which are removed from the flower by hand. Producing 1 kilo of saffron takes about 2850 m2 of soil and 150,000 flowers. On top of that, the saffron can only be harvested once a year, in a period of two weeks in autumn.

 

What is saffron good for?

For centuries, people have ascribed various health benefits to saffron.
It is frequently claimed that the active substance crocin acts as an antidepressant, antioxidant and aphrodisiac. However, these benefits have not been scientifically proven yet. Saffron is subjected to extensive (medical) research in a variety of countries.

Questions?

Ask Diederik

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