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Red gold: The world's most expensive spice - Carolyn Beans

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365 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

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Spices are often far pricier proportionately than the foods they flavor. But one’s cost has long topped them all. Saffron’s red threads regularly run at rates of over 600 USD an ounce. So what is this so-called “red gold,” and what makes it so expensive? Carolyn Beans digs into the unique biology of saffron and humanity's enduring obsession with the spice.

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Meet The Creators

Educator
Carolyn Beans
Director
Sarah Saidan
Narrator
Addison Anderson
Composer
André Aires
Sound Designer
André Aires
Animator
Paul Cotoni, Lucie Lebon
Director of Production
Gerta Xhelo
Produced by
Abdallah Ewis
Editorial Director
Alex Rosenthal
Editorial Producer
Cella Wright
Fact-Checker
Charles Wallace

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