Safflower

Carthame

What it is

Garlands of it were laid in Tutankhamun’s tomb, and Egyptian textiles dyed with its carthamin survive from the Twelfth Dynasty — it was a colour long before it was a seasoning. Sold as saffron in a good many markets, it has none of saffron’s safranal and none of its depth either.

In the kitchen

Steep the petals ten minutes in warm water or broth and use the liquid; stirred in dry they stay orange specks and give nothing. A pinch colours a litre, and past that the hay bitterness comes forward.

Goes with

Rice Chicken Onion Potato Couscous Cardamom

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