It may look like saffron, it even does what saffron does (impart a yellow-orange hue to food) but kasubha is not saffron. The Tagalog Wikipedia got it wrong.
While saffron is derived from the saffron crocus, kasubha comes from the Carthamus tinctorius or, as it is more commonly known, safflower. Click here and here to see how different the two plants are from one another.
The really curious thing is how kasubha is being marketed as saffron.
That 20 gram jar of kasubha costs P36.25 (about USD0.84).
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with using kasubha. Cooking is about using what’s available and sustainable cooking is partly about using what’s locally available. Still, it bothers me that unscrupulous business entities are trying to hoodwink the public with such a misrepresentation. I knew it was kasubha when I bought that P36.25 jar. A small packet (half the size of a packet of yeast) of real saffron costs almost P300.00. I bought the jar of “saffron” primarily to blog about it — to more precise, to blog about the mislabeling and misrepresentation. And to use the content as kasubha in ways that I have always used it — to cook “goto” or tripe congee, arroz caldo…
The “goto” recipe is coming up next.
Tsk tsk. People in the Department of Trade and Industry are sleeping on their jobs.
I agree. This product should not have been allowed in the market with that misleading label.
Whoa I didn’t know that kasubha is not actually saffron. To be fair, the pack I bought clearly said it was kasubha, but it also said in parentheses that it was saffron. Hmm! And I wondered why it was so cheap compared to the others in the spice shelf.
Apparently, the term “fake saffron” is acceptable. But most businesses selling kasubha forget to include “fake.” LOL
I also noticed that in a lot of supermarkets. Minsan pa, magkatabi yung “fake” saffron and the real saffron. I knew that the lesser priced “saffron” was a bit dubious cos the real thing is just so expensive. Hay!
even in Dubai they sell fake ones…if they selling it for cheap chances are they are.the test is to dip few strands in water if it comes out red it is fake…the water should be dark orange in color,( they sell it tingi from a box and came from Iran)
I wonder if all those wrong labels are the result of honest ignorance or a real intention to mislead and cheat.
i was wondering about that. When my mom came back from a visit to the Philippines, she gave me a small jar of “safflower” and she mentioned that saffron is way cheaper in the Phils. Thanks for clearing this up. I was wondering why they did not have the same structure – saffron that I had really crumbles in my finger when I crush it while the Phil. one was soft.
Though I just found out that safflower oil is healthier than olive oil.
ps. Thanks Connie for your blog – I love reading it and using some of your recipes in my cooking!
Hi Ms Connie,
I just came from Unimart the other day, and I was looking for the “fake” saffron in the spice aisle.. Amazingly, nawala lahat ng bottles nila ng Wil-Pack “Saffron.” Haha, I don’t know if it’s just sold out or they pulled it out
)
I hope it was voluntarily pulled out for proper labeling hehehe
i also thought “kasubha” is a real saffron. i was wondering before why did they say that saffron is the most expensive spice when i can buy tingi-tingi of it (kasubha) in the wet market in the Phils. when i was young..
thanks for clearing and sharing this! very informative!:)
that is so true. I remember an episode of junior master chef over aBs-cBn when oNe senior chef literally translated kasubha as saffron. I don’t know he hat chef was aware of his misinterpretation of the word. I lost esteem for him.
Whoa. A layman making that mistake is, well, forgivable. But a chef not knowing the difference — that’s shocking.
I am Persian and I have Persian saffron ,best quality in the world because it just grows up in Iran then export to Europe and US and over there packing to export other countries.I bring export saffron for first time from my country to Philippines .If you want it just send your request to my email,I am living in manila.meanwhile kasubha isn’t saffron.My saffron just export to Europe and US.Thank you.
MY email is: pouyan.kouchaki@yahoo.com Iranian saffron(Persian saffron)