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.

Kiungo hiki kiliwahi kugharimu sawa na uzito wake wa dhahabu. Tuma hii kwa mtu anayependa kupika. Zafarani hutoka kwenye ua mdogo mmoja wa zambarau, crocus. Ndani ya kila ua kuna nyuzi tatu nyembamba nyekundu, na ni nyuzi hizo tu ndizo hutumiwa.

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.

Wafanyakazi lazima wachume kila uzi kwa mkono, mapema asubuhi kabla maua hayajafunguka kwenye jua. Inachukua maua makumi ya maelfu kutengeneza ratili moja tu ya zafarani. Kwa historia nyingi, ratili hiyo ya nyuzi zilizokaushwa iligharimu karibu sawa na ratili ya dhahabu.

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.

Leo dhahabu inagharimu zaidi sana kuliko zafarani, lakini zafarani inabaki kiungo ghali zaidi katika jikoni yoyote duniani. Kiasi kidogo tu kinaweza kubadilisha rangi na ladha ya chungu kizima cha wali.