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Andalusia or Andalucía?

The autonomous region of Andalusia (Andalucía in Spanish) is in the southern part of Spain. It spans from Atlantic coast in the west to the sheltered coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the east and from Málaga's Costa del Sol to the borders of Castilla – La Mancha the famous flat lands and Don Quixote windmill country.  With an average of 300 plus days of sunshine a year the coastal area is an all year round destination. Not so in the inland provinces of Cordoba, Jaen and Sevilla which ha ve baking hot summers that can reach +40c and cold winters which can be 0c or less overnight. The Mezquita, Córdoba Andalusia is divided into eight provinces, each with a provincial city of the same name. Some of them are far more famous than others: Almería , Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and Sevilla. The three land-locked provinces are Córdoba, Jaé n and Sevilla, the rest are coastal. Each province and city is full of culture, history, traditions, fabulous monuments and cre...

Saffron Harvest

A little late this year my saffron harvest is minimal. Not only has summer gone on and on with little rain but my garden has been rotavated. I´d carefully dug up, or so I thought, the saffron crocus bulbs I had planted alongside my stepping stone path.

Expecting no harvest at all this year as the bulbs are still waiting to be replanted, imagine my surprise when up some popped one by one.

Saffron Crocus
Saffron Crocus - crocus sativus


The usual commercial way of harvesting the stamens is to pick the whole flower, then remove the stamen and throwing the flower away. I can´t do that, what a waste. I pick the stamens from the flower while still growing so I´ve got the saffron and can still enjoy the flowers, I ´ve obviously not many! Simple things!

One or two of the bulbs/corms even flowered in the tray I´d put them in without soil or watering them.

Once dry I put them in an empty glass spice jar. My favourite recipe for saffron, other than paella of course, is Lime and Saffron Chicken.



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