Davide Armentaro is a lifelong farmer, beekeeper and truffle hunter and manages La Steccaia Alta farmhouse, located not far from the beaches of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the medieval villages of the Maremma, southern Tuscany.
In the garden of La Steccaia Alta, located high up, organic saffron is grown, hand-picked, sun-dried and packaged in bunches. They also keep bees, far from places which use substances harmful to them and the environment. Bees produce acacia, chestnut, heather, honeysuckle and clover honey, depending on the seasons and flowering.
This organic saffron, grown in Tuscany, gives the reassurance of buying only pure saffron. The pistils are hand-picked from crocus flowers, a plant that blooms in autumn and dried in the sun. For over four millennia it has been traded and consumed, and in the Middle Ages, it was the only spice traded in Europe of indigenous origin.
To be consumed whole or ground, it should be used in small doses. A 0,3g jar can be used to cook four portions of risotto or paella.