Q 01/05

Which spice, harvested by hand from a crocus, is the world's most expensive by weight?

A) Vanilla

B) Saffron

C) Cardamom

D) Black truffle salt

Answer · why

B) Saffron

Premium grades regularly top US$5,000 per kilogram because every thread is picked by hand.

Q 02/05

The threads of the crocus-derived spice are which part of the flower?

A) The outer petals

B) The stigmas and styles

C) The dried seed heads

D) The pollen sacs

Answer · why

B) The stigmas and styles

About 150,000 flowers go into a single kilogram of dried spice.

Q 03/05

Which country produces around 90% of the world's crocus-thread spice?

A) Spain

B) India

C) Iran

D) Morocco

Answer · why

C) Iran

Afghanistan is a distant second, and Spain's La Mancha crop is famous but small.

Q 04/05

Roughly how many crocus flowers does it take to make one kilogram of the dried threads?

A) About 1,500

B) About 15,000

C) About 150,000

D) About 1.5 million

Answer · why

C) About 150,000

That works out to some 440,000 individual stigmas per kilo.

Q 05/05

Black pepper is made from the unripe fruit of a vine native to which region?

A) South Asia

B) West Africa

C) The Caribbean

D) Southeast Asia

Answer · why

A) South Asia

The vine Piper nigrum comes from India's Malabar Coast; today Vietnam grows about 30% of the world's crop.