Dubai’s spice souk is famous for selling saffron. Walking towards the souk in Deira, several shops specialising in saffron, line the pavement. Some are wholly for saffron, others sell all sorts of different spice and honey items.
Saffron (pronounced /ˈsæfrən/ or /ˈsæfrɒn/) is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the “saffron crocus”.
Saffron crocus grows to 20–30 cm (8–12 in) and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are the distal end of a carpel. The styles and stigmas, called threads, are collected and dried to be used mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in food.
Saffron, long among the world’s most costly spices by weight, is native to Southwest Asia and was probably first cultivated in or near Greece.
Most of the saffron sold in the spice souk comes from Iran and is classified into various grades depending on the quality and strength.
Strength is related to several factors including the amount of style picked along with the red stigma. Age of the saffron is also a factor. More style included means the saffron is less strong gram for gram, because the colour and flavour are concentrated in the red stigmata.
Saffron from Iran, Spain and Kashmir is classified into various grades according to the relative amounts of red stigma and yellow styles it contains.
Grades of Iranian saffron are: “sargol” (red stigma tips only, strongest grade), “pushal” or “pushali” (red stigmata plus some yellow style, lower strength), “bunch” saffron (red stigmata plus large amount of yellow style, presented in a tiny bundle like a miniature wheatsheaf) and “konge” (yellow style only, claimed to have aroma but with very little, if any, colouring potential).
(Wiki helped with some of the saffron information)
Travels in the Middle East and beyond 
I didn’t got the chance to check out Deira side during my visit to Dubai but earlier this month, my sister went with her family and she visited the area. She even bought a small jar of saffron for mother.
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Next time you visit you should hit the souk area. It’s quite atmospheric and behind the tourist scenes, very interesting!!
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And saffron is one of the middle names of one of my nieces as her mom liked the color!
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I think “Saffron” is very acceptable for a name, it has a hint of mystery to it…
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Wow! Here in the American Midwest, I buy saffron in tiny little containers. I never dreamed there could ever be such masses of it in one place! Thank you for a walk through another world!
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Thanks, Marian, until I went to Dubai I was of the same mindset. To see whole shops devoted to the sale of it and the different grades and qualities was just so fascinating! Glad you enjoyed the post…
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Such colorful windows, and a lot of good information about saffron. 🙂
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Thank you! It’s quite fascinating to see that you can trade in this one spice solely, in this day and age too!
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I recognized the photos immediately I took a peek. I think I have similar photos 🙂
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I’m sure you do Jaqueline, it’s one of those fascinating places and trades in Dubai. Love your new video talks! Well done, another step forward, best of luck with it!
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Thank you for this enlightening post. Hereabouts saffron only comes in one type or style, I rarely use it. Guess I haven’t discovered its secrets.
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You should definitely visit kashmir,they have one of the best qualities of saffron worldwide.Your blog is very informative 😀
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