What can I use in place of saffron?!
What can I use in place of saffron?
I know saffron is the cadillac of the spice world but it is very pricey. I wanted to make this recipe for a nice aioli but i cause for a pinch of saffron. I really do not want to invest $30. an ounce at the moment for saffron. What can good substitutes be? Thanks in advance!
Answers: There really isn't a substitute for the flavor, but you can use tumeric for the color you want.
I know that you can also buy powdered saffron, which is cut with tumeric. You'd still get some of the flavor, without having to pay oodles for it.
If you do decide to go whole hog and buy the saffron though, I suggest Penzey's Spices. There's a store near my house but they have a website, and their spices are amazing, and far, far cheaper than anywhere else! Source(s):
http://www.penzeys.com What I was always told is that you could steep a little black tea in some water, add a bit of honey, and use tumeric for color. The amount will vary depending on the recipe. If it's a pinch, I'd steep a cup of black tea and use only about a 1/4 of a teaspoon,
and about 1/2 teaspoon of honey,
and 1/8 teaspoon or a large pinch of tumeric.
I am hoping that the amounts wouldn't mess up the aioli's emulsion. Add the tumeric as soon as you can in the recipe.
Now if you actually go to the grocery store, you'll find out that they don't actually sell ounces of saffron. I've been able to find a small jar of it that has a reasonable amount of it. And I say reasonable meaning price wise. They'll have packages with more in there, but you don't need it. I'd recommend that you just go buy the small amount of saffron. If anything they'll have 1/2 ounce of it. And it'll be about 15 instead of 30. Try turmeric powder, just a bit will give you the colour you want.