It's easily the world's most expensive spice.

它無疑是世界上最昂貴的香料。

The next most expensive spice?

那第二貴的香料呢？

Vanilla at about $600 a pound.

一英鎊 600 美元的香草。

So, what makes saffron so wildly expensive?

那麼, 為什麼番紅花這麼貴？

For starters, saffron is a complicated spice to harvest.

首先，採收番紅花的過程十分複雜。

My name is Arash Ghalehgolabbehbahani. I am a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Vermont.

我是 Arash Ghalehgolabbehbahani。我是佛蒙特大學的博士後研究員。

To harvest the saffron, you need a lot of hand work to pick up the flowers, separate — saffron is the dehydrated or dry stigma.

採收番紅花需要許多手工活, 包括摘除花朵、取出 — 番紅花是脫水或乾燥的柱頭。

The stigma is the female part of the flower. You have to separate the stigma, dry that, and for all of these procedures, you need hand works, laborers.

柱頭是花朵的雌性生殖器官。你得取出柱頭、晾乾, 所有的過程都需要手工勞動者。

I prefer to harvest the flowers by hand because I don't like to damage the other parts of the plants.

我比較喜歡用手採摘花朵, 因為我不想破壞植物的其他部分。

Saffron comes from the Saffron Crocus flower, and each flower has three red stigmas.

番紅花是番紅花屬植物，每朵花有三個紅色的柱頭

That's the saffron.

也就是番紅花香料。

The yield of saffron is really low. You know, you have to hire a lot of laborers to harvest 4 pounds of saffron per acre. That's nothing.

番紅花的產量很低。每英畝採收4磅番紅花需雇用非常多人。這不算什麼

Just one pound of saffron requires 170,000 flowers.

採收1磅的番紅花香料需要17萬朵花。

The purple flowers bloom over a six week period from late September to early December.

這些紫色花朵的花期為每年9月到12月初, 開花時間為6周。

There's also a specific time of day to harvest them.

每天也有固定的採收時間。

When we have a higher relative humidity in the air, it can affect the saffron quality.

空氣中的相對濕氣較高時, 番紅花的質量就會受到影響。

Also, sunlight can break the chemical structure in the saffron.

此外, 陽光也會破壞番紅花中的化學結構。

So, we prefer to harvest the saffron early morning every day, or, if you don't have flowers every day, every two days.

所以, 我們選擇每天一大早採收番紅花, 若不是每天開花則兩天採收一次。

90% of the world's saffron is grown in arid fields in Iran.

全球90%的番紅花生長在伊朗的乾旱區。

But harvesting all that saffron comes at a price.

但採收番紅花是需要付出代價的。

Why is Iran the main producer of saffron? Because workers are available and they are cheap.

為什麼伊朗是番紅花的主要生產國？因為人工充足且價格低廉。

In some parts, it's like slavery, their behavior with laborers. I hate that, I should say.

某些地方對待勞工的方式, 有點類似奴隸制度。我討厭那種做法。

Based on my experience, you know, they usually, the workers came to farms in Iran around 5,6 a.m. and they left around 4 p.m.

根據我的經驗, 伊朗的工人通常早上5-6點抵達農場, 下午4點左右離開。

Most saffron harvesters are women, getting paid a maximum of five dollars a day.

大多數番紅花採收者是女性, 日薪頂多5美元。

Saffron is not only grown in Iran.

番紅花不僅生長在伊朗。

It's grown in Morocco, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, India, and even in the United States.

摩洛哥、西班牙、義大利、荷蘭、阿富汗、印度, 甚至美國都有種植。

Why the US?

為什麼美國也有？

Though many Americans have never eaten saffron, the US imported 25 tons in 2013 and 46 tons in 2016.

雖然很多美國人沒有吃過番紅花, 但美國在2013年和2016年分別進口了25噸和46噸的番紅花。

I knew that saffron has a good resistance to the cold weather. If you cover Vermont state with a layer of plastic, you will have the same situation that we have in Iran.

我知道番紅花的抗寒能力不錯。如果用一層塑膠蓋住佛蒙特州, 就能打造出伊朗的種植環境。

What's so great about saffron?

番紅花到底有哪些好處？

Over centuries, it's proven useful in many situations.

幾個世紀以來, 它被證實用途廣泛。

Saffron is most commonly used in cooking.

番紅花最常用於烹飪。

As an Iranian, every day we use saffron in our dishes, you know. We cook with saffron a lot. So far, I cannot find an alternative for the taste of saffron.

身為伊朗人, 我們每天的料理中都會用到番紅花。我們經常用番紅花做菜。到目前為止, 我找不到可以替代番紅花的材料。

It gives paella its signature flavor and golden color.

它賦予西班牙海鮮燉飯獨特的風味和金黃色澤。

It's also used in broths, breads, and marinades.

它也用於製作肉湯、麵包和醃料。

When saffron is broken down, it creates a golden dye.

番紅花經過分解後會產生一種金色染料。

Everything is not just about saffron production procedures.

番紅花的價值不僅是因為其生產過程。

Saffron contains some chemical components, which are really expensive, like picrocrocin, crocin, and safranal.

番紅花中含有珍貴的化學成分, 如苦番紅花素、番紅花素和番紅花醛。

They are three main components or compounds, which are responsible for the taste and color and smell of saffron.

它們是番紅花的三種主要成分或化合物, 決定了番紅花的味道、顏色和氣味。

When we are talking about saffron quality, technically we're talking about these three chemical components. Saffron, inherently, is a valuable thing.

若論及番紅花的質量, 基本上就是指這三種化學成分。番紅花本身就是很有價值的東西。

People have tried passing turmeric, red marigold petals, and lily flower stigmas as saffron.

人們曾嘗試用薑黃、紅色金盞花花瓣和百合花的柱頭代替番紅花。

But the flavor and dye is totally different.

但它們的味道和顏色完全不同。

In large quantities, saffron can be a potent, happiness-inducing narcotic.

大量的番紅花具有令人愉悅的強效麻醉劑功效。

And research suggests, it may help reduce the symptoms for Alzheimer's, depression, and PMS.

研究證實, 它有助於減輕阿茲海默症、抑鬱症和經前症候群的症狀。

Who knew this little spice packed such a punch?

誰知道這個小小的香料擁有那麼大的威力？