Top-Quality, Sustainably
Farmed Saffron
What Is Saffron?
Saffron consists of the stigmas of the Crocus Sativus Linnaeus. It is
bestgrown in warm, arid, and mountainous climates, characteristic
of Afghanistan’s western regions. Over the centuries, it has been
lauded as the “Queen of Spices” and prized for its medicinal and
aromatic qualities. Its ethereal flavor makes a perfect enhancement
What is wrong with the
Saffron industry today?
More than 80% of the saffron in the US market is adulterated
and/or dyed. Although “Spanish saffron” is considered to be the
authority on saffron, Spain only grows 1% of what it exports,
for both sweet and savory dishes.
according to trade data. Much of what is touted as “100% real
Among the most prized spices in the world, saffron has a complex
threads or dyed safflower petals, to the misfortune of real and
flavor that is both semi-sweet and slightly bitter. Also known as Red
Spanish saffron threads” are actually 25-40% dyed corn silk
honest Spanish producers.
Gold, saffron comes from the interior of the amethyst-colored
saffron crocus and must be hand-harvested due to its fragility. The
flowers are taken from the field in the early morning as soon as
they open and then transported to a facility where the three stigmas
(attached to the crocus by yellow filaments called styles) are hand
separated from the blossoms. It takes 450,000 stigmas (or 150,000
blossoms) to make a kilogram of saffron.
Because saffron has always been so rare, exquisite, and
expensive, the use of it marked power and wealth. It is said that
Alexander the Great bathed in saffron after battle to heal his
wounds, and Cleopatra soaked herself in a saffron bathe. The spice
has been coveted as a medicinal remedy during medieval Europe.
Wars have been fought over saffron and it has graced the wedding
beds of nobles and royalty. Today, it is used in paella, ice cream,
medicinal tea, risotto, tagines, crème sauces…the list goes as far
as the chef’s imagination.
From Farm to Table
Saffron is harvested in late October each year. The fresh
flowers are hand-picked and transported in bulk to Rumi’s three
processing facilities, where we hire 384 Afghan women – paid
direct wages – to pick three individual red stigmas from each
flower. The stigmas are collected together and then placed in
commercial drying machines for several hours under heat to both
sanitize and dry the saffron. Dried saffron is then inspected under
a magnifying glass through several rounds and microbiologically
tested before shipping to the US, where we go through yet
another round of inspection and testing. All of Rumi Spice’s
Saffron meets Category I (best quality) standards under ISO
testing procedures. There is no other way to process saffron
other than by hand, painstakingly.
RumiSpice.com • 1400 W 46th St., Chicago, IL 60609 • [email protected] • @Rumi_Spice
“
[Rumi saffron’s] beauty lies in the purity and intensity of its
flavor and fragrance, casting a luminous golden hue on every
sweet and savory dish it touches.
Daniel Boulud
6-time James Beard Award Winner
Why is Rumi the best saffron?
The particular terroir of Afghanistan imparts a superior flavor to Afghan saffron, even
when compared to real Spanish saffron. With hot, dry winds over semi-arid lands,
Afghanistan is ideal for growing saffron. In 2016, the International Taste and Quality
Institute of Brussels awarded Afghan saffron 1st place out of 30 competing regions,
for the third year in a row. The harsher and dryer the climate, the more concentrated
the potency of the stigmas. Crocin tests are only a portion representing the total flavor
profile. The entire flavor profile includes both volatile and non-volatile compounds like
safranal and picrocin, that give saffron its distinctive flavors.
Health Benefits of Saffron
Food for a Social Good
Saffron contains beta carotene, safranal, crocin, and picrocin, all
Rumi Spice is a social enterprise. We partner directly with
of which are important not only for taste and aroma but also for
farmers to bring you the world’s highest quality saffron. We
enhancing bodily health.
focus on developing our farmers and processors and to catalyze
economic development in rural Afghanistan. Our farmer network
According to a 2010 paper published in the Pharmacognosy
has expanded from under 10 to nearly 100. Each one of our
Review, “C. sativus possesses a number of medicinally important
farmers has doubled and tripled their saffron production year
activities such as antihypertensive, anticonvulsant, antitussive,
over year. To date we are the largest private sector employer of
antigenototoxic and cytotoxic effects, anxiolytic aphrodisiac,
Afghan women and the single greatest contributor to Afghanistan
antioxidant, antidepressant, antinociceptive , anti-inflammatory,
agriculture foreign direct investment.
and relaxant activity.”1 In other words, the study asserts saffron
improves memory and learning skills, increases blood flow,
Lastly, saffron is a viable alternative to opium, which funds the
lightens moods, brings down inflammation, and contains many
Taliban and other extremist groups. Our farmers can make six
cancerfighting properties.
to ten times more from growing saffron than growing poppy. By
increasing demand for Afghanistan saffron, we are displacing
1R.
Srivastava, H. Ahmed, R. K. Dixit, Dharamveer, and S. A. Saraf, “Crocus sativus L.: A
comprehensive review,” Pharmacogn Rev. 2010 Jul-Dec; PMCID: PMC3249922, 4(8): 200–208.
opium production and depriving the Taliban of revenues.
Our founders are connected to Afghanistan through their military
service, and now want to fulfill a promise of stability through
business, cultivating peace one saffron flower at a time.
RumiSpice.com • 1400 W 46th St., Chicago, IL 60609 • [email protected] • @Rumi_Spice