Once upon a time

Once I saw a magnificent SBS program about the harvesting of Saffron in Portugal. One of the magnificent ideas was that mothers always kept a little aside and put it into their case under the bed for, as it were, 'a rainy day'.

It made the observation that such a case when full was probably worth about $10,000. So it was a great safety net.

So I was bemused when in W's today to see the sign alongside this post. A phial of Saffron $13.49. Yes, indeed, quite expensive.

Of course, saffron, is very fine...almost feather like. It being the stamen of the crocus it is very fine indeed. In the way of modern signs we are told what the standard price is per kgm...although in this case it is the price per 10 gms (I wonder if this is right) which apparently is 100 times what is in the phial...so it must only be 1/10th of a gram as the 10 gm price according to the W's sign is $1349 which means that a kgm would be 100 times that or $134,900 per kgm (Much more expensive than gold at a mere $43,410 !)

Assuming there might be 4 or 5 kgms in the suitcase under the bed, you wouldn't want to lose it!