Your Weekly Voilà: Biscuit Sablé au Safran

Saffron's history stretches thousands of years from ancient Mesopotamia to current southwest France. Phoenician and Greek merchants introduced it to the Romans, who then spread it across their empire. The Moors from Spain brought saffron across southern France during their 8th-century conquest. In the 11th century, Crusaders brought the prized spice back from the Holy Land and saw its expansion in the Quercy region. Here, generous spring rains, dry summer, and limestone clays provided favorable conditions for growing this Persian flower. Stories go that there were so many crocus bulbs in southwest France that farmers fed them to their pigs!

By the 14th century, one in four recipes required saffron because medieval European cuisine was based on Greco-Roman traditions. Beyond just the kitchen, saffron has been used as a dye for cloth and ink and paint for manuscripts for millennia. Kings and queens, pharaohs and monks, wore saffron robes and perfumes, bathed in saffron water, and prayed to their gods with saffron offerings. During the Black Death in the mid 14th century, wars were fought over the spice for it was believed that saffron cured a multitude of ailments and rejuvenated one's health.

During the 18th century, changes in social and cultural norms brought about by the French Revolution, saw a decline in saffron use. It was marked as an aristocratic luxury. Add in harsh winters, high costs of labor, and eventual loss of techniques and traditions, saffron cultivation in Quercy declined sharply.

Nevertheless, many families continued to keep a portion of their garden dedicated to a clump of bulbs for their own personal use. The saffron farmers or safraniers found a Renaissance in the late 20th and early 21st century as French chefs renewed their interest in the spice. Growers organized a collective to work together in sharing bulbs, techniques, and labor for the harvest. The number of saffron farms or safranières grew.

Coaxed by the cooler temperatures of Fall, the crocus flower blooms for only one day and produces just three red stamens. Harvested in the morning before the flower withers, the stamen is gently clipped from the flower with one's fingernails. They are then delicately sorted and dried, losing 4/5 of their weight in the process. 200,000 flowers are needed to make just one kilogram of Quercy saffron. That is a lot of stamens.

Now, we can understand why this very high-end spice with extraordinary taste and use is called "red gold."

Sablé is a French round sugar cookie. According to the letters of the Marquise de Sévigné, this sweet biscuit was created for the first time in Sablé-sur-Sarthe in 1670. The French would call it a shortbread cookie but I find they are more often crisper like a sugar cookie. Sablé means "sandy." The idea is that the baker begins the process by rubbing cold butter into flour and sugar until the dough's texture resembles that of sand. The cookies of Saint-Michel are one of the most famous examples of biscuit sablé.

The recipe below is quite versatile. You can add vanilla, lemon peel, orange juice, grated chocolate or for a savory option - grated parmesan cheese. Today, we're adding saffron. I won't lie. You want to be sure your guests are "saffron worthy" because you will want to use about $5-$6 worth of threads in order to get that spicy-rose flavor.

My recipe tends more toward a thicker and more crumbly shortbread cookie. I want there to be a softness in the center and not too crisp of an edge. I'm not much for the added egg wash and sugar on the outside before slicing. I don't want them too sweet and I want the salty butter to take center stage with the saffron. If you want a sugared edge, go with a less expensive option than the saffron flavor.

I've tweaked my aunt's simple recipe a bit and here's the result:

Biscuit Sablé au Safran

2 cups (240 g) flour
3/4 cup (210 g) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar (Some recipes call for another 1/2 cup of powdered sugar - I don't add it.)
2 egg yolks, room temperature
1-2 tablespoons orange juice
Pinch of saffron threads

Note: Since I use salty butter, I don't add any additional salt. If you use sweet butter, add a pinch of salt. You can also substitute gluten-free flour and the recipe will work just fine.

1. Mix the softened butter and sugar in a large bowl. If using a mixer, cream together on medium speed. Reduce to low and add the egg yolks and 1 tablespoon of orange juice. Beat for one minute, scraping the bowl.

2. Gently pinch saffron threads between your fingers to break them up and release their flavor. Add saffron and 1 cup of flour to the butter mixture and beat on low until flour is incorporated. Mix in the remaining cup of flour.

3. Add in the second tablespoon of orange juice and mix until the dough comes together. If need be, add another 1/2 tablespoon of orange juice. You don't want the dough to be too wet and sticky.

4. Divide the dough in half and roll each into a log roughly 1 1/2 inches thick. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 c).

6. Remove one dough roll from the refrigerator at a time and remove the waxed paper. Cut the log into 1/2 inch slices crosswise and place on an ungreased baking sheet. You can gently rub the tops of the cookies with a tiny bit of water on your fingertips to even out the surface. I must admit I don't usually bother but my aunt says it's important.

7. Bake 15 minutes or until set. You're going for golden and slightly puffy. Cool slightly and then remove to wire rack.

Quercy saffron, a spice pleasing to the eye, beguiling to the nose, and pleasurable to the palate. This ancient province is where you will find some of the most delightful experiences not found in most travel journals. Keep a wee bit of space available in your suitcase to tuck a bit of saffron to bring back home with you. As soon as you open it, you'll find yourself transported to southwest France.

Bake something warm this weekend.

À bientôt mon amie,
Karen 🇫🇷