Saffron Sauce

 

Saffron sauce is a sauce which is prepared using saffron and it is served as a condiment along many dishes or it is added to certain dishes to improve their flavor. The saffron is the most expensive spice in the world and that is the reason why it is reserved for special food preparations. The sauce is served during gourmet dinners as an accompaniment to seafood or meat and is also teamed with special rice preparations like biriyani or pastas. This sauce is typical to Italian, French and Thai cooking.

 

Preparation Analysis
Saffron sauce is generally prepared as a white sauce by soaking the saffron strands in fish stock, broth or heavy cream. Thais prepare the saffron sauce by steeping the saffron strands in coconut milk. Sometimes the strands are directly added to the sauce towards the end of cooking time or it is served as a garnish. The saffron sauce is served with fishes, stewed fruits and meats. There are some noticeable differences in the preparation style.

 

  • Meat – The saffron strands are soaked in little amount of warm chicken broth which is used as a base for sauce. The sauce is prepared by cooking the saffron colored broth with flour, and white wine. This sauce is served over meatballs, which are teamed with pasta or rice.

 

  • Fish- The saffron strands are soaked in little amount of fish stock, and the colored liquid serves as a base for preparing sauce. This colored liquid is combined with roux (a thick paste prepared by cooking flour in butter) and cooked until thickening consistency. This sauce is served over fish.

 

  • Stewed Fruit – This saffron strands are soaked in heavy cream at room temperature for about an hour before combining with amaretto liqueur. The colored cream is added to the roux along with little sugar and cooked until thickening consistency. The sauce is stirred throughout the cooking time to avoid burning. The sauce is served over cold or hot stewed fruit or it is served as a dessert after garnishing with mints or other aromatic spices.

 

 In a very simple way the saffron sauce is prepared by cooking the saffron threads with heavy cream, shallots and butter.