This Iranian Saffron Almost Didn't Clear Customs

Steeped in hot water, good saffron turns a clear golden color, and Carmen, who runs Fosetter in Montreal's Chinatown, says three threads are really all you need for one cup a day. Steep it again, and the second and even third pour come out the same color as the first. That's the saffron she sells now — but getting it into the country wasn't simple.

This batch almost didn't make it through customs.

Why customs held it

Carmen says the shipment got stuck at the border because saffron is treated as having medicinal properties. The batch came with an original certificate of origin from Iran, but because Iran is under economic sanctions, even sending payment for the goods was its own problem. Once that was sorted out and the saffron arrived, there was still the matter of clearing it: storage fees racked up every day it sat at the airport, running to around $200 just in holding costs before it could be released.

Her own summary of the decision is simple: once she knows a batch is genuinely good, she says she'll go through whatever it takes to get it into the store.