Today the world's three most expensive spices are Saffron, Vanilla and Mahlab. Originating from a flower called Crocus Sativus, the high price of saffron comes from the laborious harvest work of picking the stigmas delicately by hand to prevent damage and leaving them to dry.
With its gorgeous color and distinct flavor, this ancient spice is worth the price tag. Saffron is often referred to as “red gold,” and for good reason—it's the world's most expensive spice, retailing for anywhere from $10 to $20 for a gram of the real stuff.
Saffron is a spice derived from the plant of saffron crocus. It gives food a golden yellow colour and is the world's most expensive spice.
Saffron is the rarest, most expensive food on earth—more valuable than caviar, truffles, premium vanilla beans, real Japanese wasabi, and any other luxury food you can think of. There have been periods in history when saffron, by weight, was even more expensive than gold!
Black Pepper is considered the 'king of spices' and rightfully so. Unlike its perennial companion, salt, which is easily available in any nook and corner of the world, the black pepper owes its origins to Kerala – a state in South India.
One of the reasons nutmeg was so valuable and costly is because it took five years for the seeds to grow.
Why are these spices so expensive? The reason why spices such as cardamom, vanilla, and saffron are so expensive by weight comes down to how they are grown and the labor that goes into their harvest.
Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. Produced from the stigma of the autumn flowering purple crocus (Crocus sativus), it has at points in history been worth three times the price of gold. Like all rare and valuable commodities, saffron has a history rich with legend.
Since such a small part of the flower is used, it takes 75,000 saffron flowers to make one pound of saffron spice. The small amount of saffron spice per plant, along with the fact that harvesting must be done manually, leads to saffron's being majorly expensive.
Saffron. Saffron is renowned for being the world's most expensive herb.
“Obviously, the high price is due to low production, lesser land area under cumin cultivation and high global as well as domestic demand,” said Parashar.
The spice originates from a flower called crocus sativus—commonly known as the "saffron crocus." It is believed that saffron originated and was first cultivated in Greece, but today the spice is primarily grown in Iran, Greece, Morocco, and India.
Indonesia is the largest world producer of nutmeg and mace and accounts for three-quarters of world production and export. Grenada is the second largest producer and exporter.
Nutmeg is considered to be one of the most tragic spices in history. Bloody wars have been waged over the control of this spice and many have died in an attempt to gain control of its production. It was considered a very rare and precious ingredient for a long period of time.
Nutmeg is not a nut but it is a mega spice and as such pose no risk to persons who have nut allergies. Nutmeg is actually a fruit with a single seed which makes it a drupe, similar to an apricot.
India is the world's largest spice producer. It is also the largest consumer and exporter of spices. The production of different spices has been growing rapidly over the last few years. Production in 2021-22 stood at 10.88 million tonnes.
Cardamom contains many medicinal properties and provides great taste and fragrance when added to refreshing drinks. Therefore, it is regarded as the "Queen of Spices". Q. Why cardamom is called the 'Queen of Spices'.
CARDAMOM, The mother of all Spices available with.
1 KG Saffron (Kesar) price is around Rs. 3,00,000. From antiquity to modern times the history of saffron is full of applications in food, drink, and traditional herbal medicine.
One gram of saffron threads equals roughly one loosely packed tablespoon. You only need a pinch of saffron threads (a heaping 1/4 teaspoon) for a paella that serves four. An essential in paella, saffron infuses the rice with a lovely aroma and flavor along with its soft amber glow.
ISO 3632, a saffron quality standard
Iranian, Kashmiri, and Spanish saffron are among the world's finest varieties, and each is categorized according to its quality. For instance, the classes of Iranian saffron are Sargol, Negin, and Pushal, in decreasing order of quality and strength.