Un raggio di luce illumina il paesaggio che si vede a distanza del campo di zafferano da Azafranes Jiloca a Monreal del campo, Spagna. Data: 28-10-2015. Foto: Xabier Mikel Laburu. José María Plumed e suo figlio José Ramón coltivano, preparano e vendono zafferano biologico attraverso una piccola azienda familiare chiamata 'Azafranes Jiloca', fondata nel 1993. La loro produzione annuale di zafferano è di circa 7 kg che vengono venduti principalmente al mercato internazionale, essendo il Belgio uno dei più importanti con circa il 45% della loro produzione. Esportano anche in Germania, circa il 7%.
4896 x 3264 px | 41,5 x 27,6 cm | 16,3 x 10,9 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
28 ottobre 2015
Ubicazione:
Monreal del Campo
Altre informazioni:
Questa immagine potrebbe avere delle imperfezioni perché è storica o di reportage.
It is 6 in the morning. The chill runs through the bodies and everything is ready to go. As every year, the last weekend of October the region of Castille la Mancha and part of Aragon dresses up to celebrate, as of a ritual ceremony, the recollection of the saffron rose. An agricultural production with a long known family background, that is developed as a social tradition in the genuine Spanish villages spread mainly in the provinces of Toledo, Ciudad Real Albacente and Teruel. An opportunity to transmit from parents to their children the knowledge of the harvest and the subsequent handling of the flower Crocus Sativus from where the saffron is obtained, granting the continuity of a cultural tradition that was close to the verge of extinction. Until the late 70’s, Spain was the first world producer of saffron, with 4, 000 cultivated hectares. Now it hardly has 150 hectares, that are in hands of 500 producers, most of them are families with small agricultural exploitations, that subsist challenging in each harvest the oscillating prices and the ram of unfair competitors, who use the name and the value of the saffron to adulterate and forge it. The price of this spice comes determined by the hand labor that is needed for its harvest and not by the difficulty of the crop. Not in vain it is the most expensive spice in the world and it is commonly known as ‘Red Gold’, with a price that can hover close to the 3, 000 Euro for the producer and that it may get sold to the final consumer at 8 Euro the gram. It is precisely the use of handcraft techniques in its cultivation, harvest and the handling that awards it with a singular and unique personality that increases so much its price. Its bitter taste, the characteristic smooth aroma and the color, containing a natural dye called crocin, that gives the food its characteristic bright yellow color, that makes this spice stand between the most appreciated ones in the traditional cuisine of many countries as a condiment.
