I had some rice at a Greek restaurant and wanted to buy some. Then I saw the outrageous price and changed my mind. I'm wondering if restaurants just use turmeric. Why is this spice so expensive?
The harvesting is very labor intensive. Takes something like 100,000 of the saffron producing flowers to make a pound of finished product.
Most restaurants do not use saffron. Saffron usually cost about 10 bucks a gram but you only need 1/4 to 1/2 that for most dishes. I use half a gram when I make paella in an 18 inch pan. Enough to feed about 10 people.
