
Saffron is the stigma (the female organ) of an autumn flowering crocus (Crocus sativus). The stamen is the male organ that holds pollen, and it has no use in cooking.
Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice, with a street value on average of around A$20,000 per kilo. A double handful of saffron weighing about 1 kilo, will contain at least 200,000 stigmas. All these are painstakingly harvested by hand, from the back-breaking picking of each flower to the dextrous separation of the 3 stigmas.