Moroccan Saffron
Morocco is one of the leading countries in the world after India, Iran and Spain in the production of Saffron. On a height of 1400 meters above sea level and about 90 kilometers east of Taroudant district, is located a small Moroccan town called “Taliouine”, which is well known for planting Moroccan Saffron and producing what is now called “The Red Gold”.
The Saffron of Taliouine, that takes the name of its hometown, is a Moroccan agricultural product that is known as one of the best kinds of Saffron in the world and as the most expensive spice in the world. Saffron is derived from a flower called “Saffron Crocus”, from which the vivid crimson stigmata and styles, called threads are collected and dried to be used as a seasoning and coloring agent in food. Taliouine’s Saffron is famous for having thick red threads without yellow edges, good smell and for being fresh.
Moroccan Saffron of the town of Taliouine is planted over a space of 540 Hectares in 5 different areas which are Agadir Mloulen, Asaiss, Tassousfi, Sidi Ihsayen and Askawen, all near Siroua Mountain in the Middle Atlas Mountains.
Taliouine’s saffron is considered the only source for income for its inhabitants who rely mainly on the flower and its threads along with few other agricultural products to fulfill their needs. The people of Taliouine use the local Saffron with tea, for the taste and color and present it to Moroccan and foreign visitors considering its high nutritional value and important healing abilities, as the locals think it can heal about 90 sicknesses.
The town of “The Red Gold”, as it’s called, hosts a festival yearly and regularly, called “Taliouine’s festival of Saffron”. Since the festival’s first edition in 2007, it has been growing in fame and allowing for Moroccan Saffron to compete with that of Iran, India and Greece. Despite Taliouine dedicating 540 Hectares of its fertile land to the production of Saffron, only 4 kilograms of Saffron are produced for each hectare of land, yearly. Getting 500 grams of the Red Gold requires planting at least 70,000 flower, all correctly planted, treated and cared for. In addition to this, Taliouine’s fresh Saffron loses about 80% of its weight after getting dried. A 25 Kilograms of fresh Saffron will only weigh about 5 kilograms after drying.
The price of 1 kilogram of Taliouine’s Saffron ranges from 10 thousand to 15 thousand Moroccan Dirhams (2000 US Dollars), and it takes about 120 thousand to 140 thousand flowers to produce 1 kilogram of Taliouine’s Saffron.
Moroccan Saffron is in growing demand between tourists, making Taliouine one of the tourists’ favorite destinations, especially since it is in the Middle of such beautiful scenery. During your time in Morocco, it is recommended that you buy Saffron with the guidance of one of the local guides in the Medina of Fes or Marrakech, as the product is expensive and tourists can be manipulated to buy a cheaper similar product.