| | Iran
produces about 70 - 90% of the entire world production of saffron. The Crocus
sativa saffron producing species of Iridaceous is thought by some to have originated
in this region of Asia. The Iranian saffron has a beautiful deep rich color, a
full flavor, and is seen as second only to the saffron produced in the Kashmir
region of India.
To most of us, Iran has been a closed country for many years;
though it is an Asian country, with vast natural beauty and an equally illustrious
early history. It had a religion that was really the mother of all the biblical
religions, in that many aspects of the three
Religions are found in ancient
Zoroastrianism.Pre-Persian Iran, called Elam was at one point as large or larger
than the Roman Empire. It stretched from Egypt, up to the Black Sea and well into
India.??????????????
When the Persian King Cyrus the Great wanted to take
over neighboring Babylon, he was simply allowed to so, as he was seen as a just
ruler. In fact he produced a Charter of the Rights of Nations, inscribed on a
clay cylinder in cuneiform script and is now held at the British Museum.
About
200 years BC, an Islamite - later Parthian King developed the Silk Road, a trade
link between the Mediterranean and China. Saffron and other precious spices were
carried, along with a host of other valuable goods on its route notably silk.
The Elam Kingdom may have dated back as far as 6000 BC, giving ample time for
the cultivation of saffron to spread to Iran; if indeed the cultivation of saffron
was spread westward, as some have suggested.??????????????? Iran which is now
about 4% Arab was conquered by the Arabs invaders in 636, with the spread of Islam.
Subsequently, all of the areas which the Iranian kingdom controlled out towards
India also became Islamic. With this came the development of the 'Arab' cuisine
as we know it today. Rice for instance, needs a monsoon climate, which is only
found in Asia; saffron, needs a cool autumn harvest, but a relatively hot summer;
seasonal variations which do not occur in the Arabian Peninsula. TheArab/Jewishpeoples
had Incense Route around 1500BC, which included the kingdom of Sheba; Sheba is
thought to be where Yemen and Ethiopia are today, which became Jewish, as there
was no Islam. ??????????
This region of Arabia was controlled by
women
rulers for more than 1000 years, and ironically it was the ordinary women who
could marry more than one man, with the husbands coming to live with her at her
family's house. When the Queen of Sheba, Marked or Belies visited King Solomon,
she took gifts of saffron, and a host Of other incenses and spices. Someone
noted that Queen Marked was very wise, as she only stayed for tea at Solomon's,
but did not stay to become a part of his Harem! A son was born as a result of
their union and later she and the child returned to Ethiopia. As the Arabs
progressed further into the Asian, conquering and colonizing, nation after nation,
saffron became a regular part of the 'Arab' diet, and as they already had a presence
in Europe, conquering Spain 70 years after conquering Iran, and 30 years prior
to conquering Morocco and Algeria; saffron was introduced into the parts of Europe
and Northern Africa; which were all previously parts of the Roman Empire. Although
the Arab influence was significant in the spread of saffron into Europe and North
Africa, Iran was the real source, and without the successful take over of the
Iranian lands, the Arab cuisine might look quite different today. |
