The Spice That Once Cost as Much as Gold

This spice used to be worth its weight in gold. Send this to someone who loves cooking. Saffron comes from one small purple flower, the crocus. Inside each flower are three thin red threads, and only those delicate threads are ever used.

Workers must pick every thread by hand, early in the morning before the flowers open in the sun. It takes tens of thousands of flowers to make just one pound of saffron. For most of history, that pound of dried threads cost about the same as a pound of gold.

Today gold costs much more than saffron, but saffron remains the most expensive spice in any kitchen in the world. A single pinch can change the color and the taste of a whole pot of rice.