Pan Roasted Black Cod in Saffron Chowder with Crispy Prosciutto

Imagine a football field covered in 75,000 flowers. Now imagine having to pick the three prongs out of the center of every single blossom. That is how many flowers it requires to yield only one pound of saffron; talk about tedious. Each Crocus, is an autumn flowering perennial plant that produces three strands, or prongs in the center of each blossom that must be picked and dried before selling.

They look like tiny, red clown eyelashes but they pack a ton of distinctive flavor as well as adding a deep, golden color to sauces. I wanted to put a little spin on one of my favorite Spanish dishes; paella, which uses saffron flavored rice as its main component.

Instead of rice, I used black barley for the grain component and made a quick chowder that was laced with saffron. Instead of piling the other classical paella components into the dish, I decided to keep it simple and stick to two. I pan roasted a beautiful, thick piece of Black Cod (otherwise known as Butterfish) until the top was nice and crispy and the inside was moist and flaky.

Black Cod tends to be a little meatier than regular Cod and its flesh has a pink hue to it before cooking. I didn’t want to leave out my favorite component of paella, the pork, so I made some crispy Prosciutto chips to garnish the plate with.

Chorizo is the typical meat in paella, but I just happened to have some paper-thin Prosciutto de San Danielle in the fridge. All I did was spread them out on a baking dish lined with parchment and threw them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. I had some Chantrelle mushrooms on hand as well which I simply sauteed in butter and thyme to top the fish with.

I have been sitting infront of the computer now for hours and I still can’t figure out how to describe what saffron tastes like; saffron tastes like saffron. I have heard all sorts of things such as bitter hay, burnt flowers, earthy, and medicinal but there really is no definitive way to describe the most expensive spice in the world.

I paired this dish with the 2007 Graff Family Vineyards Pinot Blanc. This is a unique wine because not many people grow Pinot Blanc domestically, but the Graff Family does an exceptional job with it. This wine is very versatile and complex; it has great acidity and minerality from the limestone rich soil, with flavors of peach and melon fruit.

The juice is aged in French Oak barrels which gives it an underlying flavor and aroma of toasted hazelnuts. It worked extremely well with the dish because it didn’t overpower the cod and it allowed the saffron essence to shine.

The acidity helped cut through the creamy chowder and the rich finish was pleasant with the earthy mushrooms. After every bite I took of the chowder I thought about the poor workers that have the patience to pluck the saffron prongs out of the flowers and I was incredibly thankful.






































