Use 1/8 to 1/4 tsp crushed saffron in rice, fish, poultry, breads and cakes. Ground saffron is to be avoided at all costs. It is used a great deal in Mediterranean cooking. The Portuguese and Spanish use it a good deal as well. It is an essential ingredient of many traditional dishes such as paella, bouillabaisse, risotto Milanese and various other Italian dishes.

The flower styles are used as a tea substitute. The root can be cooked. The corms are toxic to young animals so this report of edibility should be treated with some caution.

The styles are extremely rich in riboflavin. Water soluble. Yields per plant are extremely low; about 4000 stigmas yield 25g of saffron. Saffron is the world's most expensive spice, it takes 150,000 flowers and 400 hours work to produce 1 kilo of dried saffron. About 25 kilos of styles can be harvested from a hectare of the plant. Fortunately, very small quantities of the herb are required to impart their color and flavor to dishes. Because of the cost, saffron is frequently adulterated with cheaper substitutes such as marigold flowers and safflower.

The yellow dye obtained from the stigmas has been used for many centuries to color cloth. A blue or green dye is obtained from the petals. Saffron is a famous medicinal herb with a long history of effective use, though it is little used at present because cheaper and more effective herbs are available.