Saffron: history, myth, and uses

A variety domesticated in the Late Bronze Age on the island of Crete, Crocus Sativus is cultivated for its precious and aromatic stigmas, better known as saffron.

A seasoning and dye, but also known as “angel’s hair”—according to the Arabic za’faran—with psychopomp and magical properties recognized and sought after since ancient times, saffron makes its first known appearance in an Assyrian document from the 7th century BC, compiled under King Sardanapalus. Being a sterile plant—the flowers cannot reproduce through seeds—it requires human intervention, which involves dividing and replanting the corms (similar to bulbs) so that, between October and November, the flowers, with their sweet, honey-like scent, can bloom. All plants flower within 15 days, and the flowers—which enclose the precious stigmas—must be harvested at dawn so that they don’t fade as the day progresses. It’s no surprise that saffron is known as red gold: approximately 120,000 flowers are needed to produce 1 kg.

However, saffron’s value lies beyond its sheer size. Its distinctive, hay-like scent was so prized in ancient times that the Babylonians mixed it with frankincense and myrrh to make a perfume, while the Greeks—who also attributed its origins to the love between the father of all gods, Zeus, and his wife, Hera—used it as a perfumer for theaters. The Egyptians, for their part, sprinkled mummies with stigmas to aid in the ascent of prayers through the aroma.

Other civilizations used it as a pigment: the Minoans, for example, used it as a cosmetic coloring agent, or the Greeks, who, having dark hair, blond their hair by mixing the stigmas with potassium water. In Jerusalem, it was mixed with henna for this purpose, while Buddha and monks, before embarking on the path of ecstasy—that is, toward death—used it to dye their tunics. But while in Persia it was so precious that it was woven into carpets and royal shrouds, in the West its fame is linked more to the desperate attempts to acquire it to escape the plague. For this purpose, it was imported by ship, but during one of these voyages, a vessel bound for Basel was the target of piracy: the incident was considered so serious that it sparked a war, known as the Saffron War.

Prized not only for its bitter-tonic, antispasmodic, colorant, and flavoring properties, saffron has found a privileged home in Umbria—and, in particular, in the areas of Città della Pieve, Cascia, Gubbio, and Spoleto. In Cascia itself, where it was reintroduced in 1999, it was widespread between the 13th and 16th centuries for its therapeutic properties, while in Città della Pieve it was sought after for its dyeing properties, so much so that the Perugia Statute of 1279 prohibited its planting by foreigners. Today, the Il croco di Pietro Perugino – Zafferano di Città della Pieve consortium comprises 30 saffron-producing members and sells saffron exclusively in thread form to guarantee its authenticity. In Cascia, the Cascia Saffron Association – Zafferano purissimo dell’Umbria sets the minimum price for the product on November 25th, the feast of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, following an ancient medieval tradition. The Cascia Saffron Market Fair is also held at the end of October.

Finally, in Spoleto, producers are united under the umbrella of Zafferano del Ducato, while the Gubbio Saffron Association was founded by a group of young people to revive cultivation and promote saffron, a spice fit for a king.