Saffron: Makes any meal into a foodie event

Growing up in Miami, Florida - with a Cuban influence - I learned about saffron early on. People don’t generally realize that Cuban cuisine has a very distinct Spanish/Basque origin, which is where the use of saffron with rice began.

Later in life, I got to know some Persians. That expanded my repetoire of using the prized - and admittedly very expensive - spice.

Yes, saffron is the world’s most expensive spice.

After a lot of research, I found this deal on Sahar Saffron - where you get a sample pack of Moroccan, Iranian (Persian), Kashmiri and Spanish saffron for $38. I know you’re probably raising your eyebrows at that, but I really do cook a lot of things that require it. And there’s just no good substitute for it. Not at all.

I can also recommend the Saffron from Penzeys spices, which I have used for a long time. A 1/2 gram portion will set you back about $8.00.

I don’t necessarily recommend that you get all these different kinds to begin with. If you like paella and Spanish/Cuban dishes like that - or a French boulliabase stew - then simply get the best deal you can on Spanish or Moroccan Saffron.

I don’t recommend those little dinky portions that come in the supermarket bottles. They’re truly second rate and so sparse that it’s hardly worth it.

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Parisa's Persian Cuisine: now on my 'A' list

Updated on Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 15:36 by mavenandmeddler

I’ve been trying to get out to Sparks to go to Parisa’s forever - for my readers not here in Reno, we’re talking abouta 10-12 mile round trip - and I just don’t have any reasons to go out that way anymore. However, that’s going to change.

Many years ago, in another life in Salt Lake City, I had a lot of close friends that were Persian, and one friends mother, Monir, sort of took me under her wing as the daughter she never had. We cooked a LOT. We cooked a LOT of great Persian food. Monir had been a ‘lady in waiting’, or something close to that, to the wife of the deposed Shah of Iran, and was particularly skilled in cooking and entertaining. Her parties and courtly cuisine were legendary.

That’s how I came to know and love Persian cuisine.

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North African Baked Chicken

I hadn’t really planned on putting this on the blog, but my dinner guests have insisted. Since it disappeared in record time last night, I guess it was a ‘hit’.

Years ago, I dated a great Persian guy for the longest time, and his mother was one of the best cooks I’ve ever known. She and I would actually do marathon, multiple day cooking fests for parties that were absolutely incredible. I tell you this, because some of the influences that I learned in Monir’s kitchen find their way into dishes like the following, which I sort of made up on the fly last night. This dish has both Moroccan and Tunisian influences.

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