Saffron

This dish is inspired by a recipe from Claudia Roden's classic book, Tamarind and Saffron (Viking, 1999). It is one of our favorites: it is easy to make, yet looks stunning, and has the most delicate and fragrant combination of flavors (rose water, saffron, and cinnamon), which takes you straight to the famous Jemaa el Fna in Marrakech. Serve with rice or plain couscous.

Healers have touted saffron's medicinal properties since the days of Hippocrates, and Cleopatra claimed that it was an aphrodisiac. Its scarcity (it takes some four thousand crocus blossoms to create an ounce of saffron) and the belief that it could be used to treat everything from wounds to the plague even caused the Austrians to go to war over the spice during the Dark Ages. This is at least one feudal folk myth that modern science has corroborated. Studies have shown that saffron has outstanding antibacterial and antiviral properties and also aids digestion. People sometimes balk at saffron's cost, but it isn't unreasonable when you consider its potency; this recipe calls for only 1/8 teaspoon, and as you'll see, a little goes a long way. This pilaf is a delightful and gorgeous dish. The rice is sautéed before cooking to avoid that sticky, gummy consistency, and ginger, parsley, and lemon zest add zing. Prepare ahead: Soak the rice in cool water and the juice of half a lemon for 8 hours or overnight before cooking; this will make its nutrients more available and decrease the cooking time. If you don't have time to soak the rice, add an extra 1/4 cup of broth and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Mediterranean classics, check out the video classes.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Mediterranean classics, check out the video classes.

Saffron threads and fresh garlic add a kick of color and flavor to this creamy mayo that's perfect for dipping or spreading.

These cream puffs are a completely French invention. They look so perfectly beautiful! My children love filling them with whipped cream—and eating them, of course. These are certainly hard to resist.

Many people become extremely intimidated when it comes to making Persian rice. You have to trust me when I tell you it is really not a big deal—just don't tell anyone Persian I said that! All you need to do is to imagine that instead of making rice, you are making pasta. Most of us know how to make pasta; it is probably what you ate every day when you went to college! You are going to cook this rice in boiling water with oil and salt, just like pasta. You are going to wait until the rice is "al dente" (when you bite a grain of rice it should still have a white dot in the middle), just like pasta. Do not overcook Persian rice or your reputation as a Persian cook will suffer! And last, you are going to drain it, just like pasta. The difference comes next: Persian rice has one cooking step that pasta doesn't have. Persian rice gets steamed. Think of it this way: since this rice is fancy, it requires a "spa treatment." What is the result when you pamper yourself in a sauna? A new you! What is the result when you treat your rice to a "spa treatment"? Each and every grain of rice becomes its own entity and a pearl from heaven! What is the best after-effect of a "spa treatment" for a woman? It makes a better wife, a better mother—and a better cook! What is the best after-effect of a "spa treatment" for Persian rice? The most scrumptious, crunchy, golden crust: TADIG! To make this rice you will need a colander—and the smaller the openings, the better. You don't want your precious rice to slip out! Also, many Persian cooks wash and soak the rice as if it were dirty laundry…I am sorry, I keep my laundry in the basement and I don't have time for all that soaking, so trust me when I tell you that you don't need to do it! The quantities in the recipe below might seem large, but considering that Persians breathe rice, it goes really fast. If you want to make a smaller quantity, try only 3 cups rice, 8 cups water, 1/4 cup oil, and 1 tablespoon salt. Also, any basmati rice will do. Basmati rice is also available in whole-grain brown; although it is a little stickier, it is absolutely delicious and healthful!

Effort Level: II This is a wonderful recipe inspired by North African cuisine. It is a colorful, vegetarian dish with vibrant flavors.
-Wendy Grater

What began as a simple side dish with a citrusy dressing became a light but appealing entrée with the addition of quickly sautéed shrimp. This can be served warm, but it’s also nice at room temperature, making it a good option for picnics or buffet spreads.

Sweet yellow peppers are exceptionally rich in vitamin C. Serve the soup either hot for a comforting wintertime meal, or chilled in the warm-weather months.

This aromatic stew can be made with other types of fish, including haddock or regular cod, but sablefish delivers higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. A whole-wheat baguette is good for sopping up the broth.

Steaming a pot of shellfish is actually quite simple—and quick. It requires just a small amount of aromatic liquid, such as the wine used in the recipe below, which imparts flavor to the shellfish while also mixing with the flavorful liquid released from the shellfish, resulting in a delicious broth. And the shells serve as a “steamer basket,” keeping the shellfish from being submerged in the liquid. A dry white wine is used as the steaming liquid; other good choices would be beer or water (you could even forgo adding liquid and steam the mussels in a covered pot until they open, as they have enough liquid in their shells, then sprinkle with salt and pepper). Here some aromatics are sautéed before the liquid is added to enhance its flavor before adding the mussels. In Belgium and France, mussels are traditionally accompanied by piping hot French Fries (page 333), but a crusty loaf of bread is always welcome.

Pilafs originated in the Middle East, where they are usually made with rice. The rice is toasted in butter or oil along with aromatic vegetables such as onion, then the mixture is cooked with stock (or water) in the oven. The grain is ready for the liquid to be added when it gives off a nutty, toasted aroma. The desired texture of a pilaf is fluffy, with no grains sticking to each other. Pilafs can contain a variety of other ingredients, such as dried fruit, nuts, and pasta such as orzo. Here is a basic recipe, followed by two variations.

This recipe can be made a day ahead and refrigerated; reheat before serving.

Season the chicken a day ahead so it has time to absorb the flavors.

Who doesn’t love crispy, salty potatoes? This simple Spanish-influenced dish is a fine accompaniment to grilled fish. The saffron-scented aioli dressing is also wonderful tossed with pasta or on other seasonal vegetables. This dish is even more stunning when made with Peruvian purple potatoes.

There is an ancient and savage imperviousness about la barbagia—the high, central plateaux in the Gennargentu Mountains. The Romans named it barbaria—barbarian—they having muddled all campaigns to vanquish the rough Sard clans who lived there, who live there still. And so it was with all who braved ingress onto their wild moors, into their Mesolithic woods. Of ungenerous earth fit only to pasture sheep and goats, these barbagianesi live simply but somehow not poorly, their uninjured traditions nourishing them as much as the fruits of their hunting and foraging. Too, they are primitive artisans, building, weaving, carving objects of rustic beauty and comfort, enriching their homes and villages, themselves, with a most tender spirit. And riding the thin, tortured roads that thread through the mountains, one is carried back into their unfrayed present. Seeming to seep from the pith of the mountains is the village called Desulo, and there one is greeted by citizens dressed—as they dress always, as they have dressed always—in ancestral costumes of handwoven cloth tinged in the reds and blues and yellows of their allegria, of their perpetual, quiet festival of life. And, too, one might be invited to sit at a family table to eat mutton boiled with wild bay leaves and wrapped in warm, thin breads baked over embers. But this after a great bowl of malloreddus—vitellini—little calves, for which Desulo is famed. Not calves at all but tiny, plump, hand-rolled, saffroned pasta that, to the Sards, resemble fat little heifers.