Where will you be in Spain? In cities, El Corte Ingles is a good tip, mentioned above. In Barcelona, take a look at La Ribera in the Born area. If Valencia is on your plan, there is a vendor devoted solely to saffron in the central market.

Do not consider powdered saffron as the aroma will be diminished and it is easy to adulterate.

The best comes from La Mancha and has a DOP label.

You want threads, the more red and the less yellow the better quality, to keep things simple. There are many grades, with those marked "coupe" being the finest and "superior" being next in line.

How will you be using the spice? That plays into which quality is best for you.

If you are a member of Costco, you can often find very good La Mancha saffron for a good price. In any case, I would check prices before leaving home. There are so many grades, as I mentioned, and the spice comes in jars and envelopes, and tubes, of various weights, so it is tricky but important to have some general idea of the price per gram before splurging.

I always buy it on my trips to Spain and keep in the freezer at home, with other spices. Saffron is an ideal gift for a cook. Easy to transport.

There are so many wonderfull food items to buy that I am surprised that you have limited your list to one item. Wish I could do the same!

Eksrunchy,

to answer your question: Madrid, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, who knows (?), Barcelona.

Gosh, thank you for the La Mancha tip. I use saffron in rice, chicken, bread. And, as you say, I know absolutely nothing abut the grades.

Here is what Costco offers.

http://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch?...eyword=saffron


What other wonderful food items do you buy in Spain? Pretty please, tell.

Fuenroble olive oil. I could drink that stuff out of the bottle!!! Lol!

When back in the states the two of the best sources for Spanish provisions are:

Depana

http://www.despanabrandfoods.com/

They make their own chorizos and are the best I have tasted in the US. They also import many Items.

La Tienda

http://www.tienda.com/

Look at this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...from-spain.cfm

just back from Andaluz..visited a little family saffron business and bought some for gifts.
beautiful blood Orange with long strands.. . so potent it perfumed my suitcase even in sealed plastic containers double wrapped in baggies!

The owners had a selection of baked goods flavoured with their saffron - the bread was just lovely!

As soon as I get over jet-lag I'll do some comparisons with the Iranian and the Spanish.

Don't forget "The Spanish Table", online, or at their stores in Seattle, Berkeley, Mill Creek and Santa Fe.

Andorra

So which local stores have you tried? Where does your saffron come from?

yas is advertising

Our local chemist stocks it - the sort with filaments in it - not cheap but perfectly ok for paella.

A local speciality here in Cornwall is saffron loaf but I have no idea where they source the saffron.

We have safran farms here in the Dordogne. You can read about how it came to be farmed in Europe in the book entitled Saffron ( not a particularly good read, but interesting). We get loads of wonderful saffron products - honey, liqueur, etc.

Interesting. I knew it was farmed in Italy (as well as Spain, of course) but didi not know about France.

I've been told many times to buy only the threads/filaments, not the powder, which is much cheaper but easily adulterated.

Ann: That is fascinating..why does the chemist sell saffron? Do they sell all herbs/spices or is their a medical use for it?

Pharmacies in France sell safran, too. It has many medicinal properties. You definitely buy filaments, not powder. Pharmacies all over Europe sell all manner of herbs - not loose fresh or dried ones like the ones you find in fresh markets, but capsules or liquids. I'm about to have a sip of my post-prandial jus d' argousier right now.

Here's one site for a saffron farm in France. We have lots of them.

http://www.safrandefrance.fr

Ann: That is fascinating..why does the chemist sell saffron? Do they sell all herbs/spices or is their a medical use for it?>>

Eck - to my knowledge they've always sold some things like that like olive oil [for clearing ear wax], orange water, rose water, and a few other similar things like saffron.

Why those herbs in particular I'm not really sure - I suspect that it's historical relating to their use by apothecaries.