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An ink the colour of pomegranate blossoms: this intriguing little recipe calls for mixing "root of the saffron" with an equal amount of sharp vinegar and setting aside to soak; meanwhile saffron threads are boiled with finely ground gum arabic. The two are then strained & mixed.
Since the saffron crocus grows from a bulb, I assume the "root" here is the yellow root of the red thread. It& #39;s not usually included when buying saffron, but one can find saffron "with root". Here I& #39;m cutting the roots from the threads to treat them separately.
(Insert eye-roll about the translator using the word-for-word translation "hairy saffron" throughout instead of proper English "saffron threads", making it sound like there& #39;s a different type of saffron that& #39;s not hairy. Jesus.)
While the roots macerate in (white) wine vinegar, the threads go into the pot with the gum arabic.
Having macerated saffron for earlier tests, I can definitely say decoction is MUCH more efficient to draw out the colour.
The result after straining/mixing is very pleasing, but more on that in a bit. The different results are very instructive. Vinegar pulls a lemon yellow from the roots. The threads on their own yield near-red. Boiled with roots, the hue is golden-yellow. Maceration alone is weak.
The resulting hue is puzzling because this is what a pomegranate blossom looks like. There& #39;s no way this red can be achieved this way. So maybe it& #39;s meant to look like the dye from the flower, rather than the flower itself.
I wish I had picked up dried pom blossoms from the souk when I spotted them there, but I have ordered some so I will be able to test it soon. I found out these flowers were used to fake saffron dye, so it& #39;s a bit curious to have a recipe for faking them FROM saffron! 
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Remember this thread? Well it was all a waste of time. The reason why is in this tweet showing the proper translation of the original text: https://twitter.com/joumajnouna/status/1253942246661128192
Here& #39;s">https://twitter.com/joumajnou... the colour resulting from the rectified recipe. It can be more red or more yellow depending on amounts.
Here& #39;s">https://twitter.com/joumajnou... the colour resulting from the rectified recipe. It can be more red or more yellow depending on amounts.
