SAFFRON (Crocus sativus)

Saffron, the most expensive spice in the world, is native to the Mediterranean area and most imported saffron comes from Spain. The ancient Assyrians used saffron for medicinal purposes. The Greeks and Romans used it to perfume their luxurious baths. The bright orange-yellow color also made saffron useful as a dye.

Each saffron crocus flower has 3 stigmas, it takes about 80,000 flowers (240,000) stigmas to make a pound of saffron. It takes an experienced picker about 12 days to pick this many. By the time saffron gets to retail stores, its cost is $600 to $2000 per pound.

In 1444 any merchant caught selling adulterated saffron in Bavaria was burned alive.

BENGAL APPLE

Bengal Apple:: (Aegle marmelos) The Bengal apple is also known as the Bael fruit, Bengal quince, Indian quince, golden apple, holy fruit, elephant apple and stone apple. The tree grows wild in Pakistan, Bangladesh and in the dry forests and plains of central and southern India and Burma. Mention of the tree is found in writings dating back to 800 BC. It is cultivated throughout India, mainly in temple gardens, because of its status as a sacred tree.

The fruit is round, oval, oblong, or pear-shaped, 2 to 8 inches in diameter, and has a thin, hard, woody shell, which when fully ripe is dotted with aromatic, minute oil glands. Inside, there is a hard, central core with eight to twenty weakly defined triangular segments. The dark-orange segments are filled with aromatic, pale-orange, sweet, resinous, more or less astringent pulp.