Snippets of Saffron Sapience Trivia Quiz

Answer: Once

The word "saffron" is mentioned only once in the Bible and it appears in Song of Solomon 4:14. In this verse Solomon praises his bride and mentions several aromatic spices including the saffron, in order to exalt his bride's beauty.

Answer: False

False. Crocus sativus, sometimes called saffron crocus, is a delicate plant, similar to lavender, which produces flowers. Each flower has three yellow styles that end in a crimson red stigma. The styles and the stigmas constitute what is called the saffron thread.

The flowers are picked manually and the threads removed from each flower, also manually, and then dried. It is estimated that about 70,000 flowers are needed to produce one kilogram of saffron. The large amount of labor required in these operations, to produce small amounts of saffron, explains the high price of this spice. Currently the plant is grown in Iran, the largest producer, Spain, India, Greece, Turkey and in Western Asia.

Answer: India

The flag of the Republic of India has three horizontal equal bands: deep saffron (kesari) on the top, white on the middle and green below. The saffron color represents the country's strength and courage; the green color represents the fertility, growth and auspiciousness and the white color indicates peace and truth. On the center of the white band is a navy blue wheel representing the Dharma chakra.

The chakra aims to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation.

Answer: Shaila Abdullah

Shaila Abdullah (1971-) is a Pakistani-American author who writes books for adults and children. In "Saffron Dreams", 2009, the main character is Arissa Illahi, a Pakistani Muslim writer. She has to reorganize her life and face prejudice when she loses her husband in the 9/11 tragedy. The book shows that although we plan our lives carefully, it is often life that chooses our destiny.

Answer: Myanmar

In the period from August to October 2007, the decision of the military government of Myanmar to withdraw the subsidy on fuel prices, caused a large increase in fuel prices and in all economic activity, leading to a series of protests and demonstrations.

The movement was called the "Saffron Revolution" due the participation of thousands of Buddhist monks, who were at the forefront of the demonstrations with their saffron robes.

Answer: A flame

The color saffron of the Buddhist monks' robe symbolizes a fire's flame. The color of the so-called "saffron robe" of Buddhist monks varies: burnt orange, soft yellow, bright yellow, deep red and saffron color. These are all colors of a flame. According to Buddha, a flame is a symbol of the truth. So, when wearing the saffron robe, monks indicate that they are looking for the truth and reminding other people that they also need to look for the truth.

Answer: Fish

Bouillabaisse is a fish-based dish created by the fishermen of the port city of Marseilles. Currently, it is a dish that can be more or less sophisticated, depending on the quality of the ingredients used. It consists of fish, vegetables, water, bouquet garni and saffron, which are simmered.

The saffron in this case, besides giving color to the food, releases its unmistakable flavor. Many restaurants present several dishes saying that they have saffron but in reality they use turmeric, which is cheaper, and gives the food the color but not the specific flavor of the saffron.

Answer: A book

"Saffron Moon", 2018, is a book by M. Ganendran a British writer whose main audience is teenagers for whom she writes stories of adventure and mystery. She also browses other genres, including short stories. M. Ganendran developed two very interesting projects in collaboration with her husband, P. Ganendran. One of the projects consists of an interesting book with 50 lateral thinking puzzles.

Answer: Terry Oldfield

Terrence Oldfield, known as Terry Oldfield, was born in London in 1949 and was raised in a Roman Catholic family. He left school at 16 to travel the world. On this trip he had many musical experiences, especially in Greece and India. In the early 1970s he formed a band with his siblings.

In the 1980s, the BBC invited him to compose music for a TV series, beginning a period in which he composed music for more than 50 films and series. In 2001, Oldfield moved to Australia, producing new-age music, a genre of music that aims to create an environment of relaxation, tranquility and peace.

Answer: The Gates

"The Gates", Central Park, New York was a project developed by Bulgarian artist Christo Yavacheff and French artist Jeanne-Claude. The installation consisted of 7,503 vinyl gates, along 37 km of pathways. At each gate was hung a panel of deep saffron-colored nylon fabric. According to the artists, 100,000 square meters of fabric, 96 km of vinyl tubing, 5.4 tons of steel and almost 15,000 sets of brackets and hardware were used.

The artists were inspired by traditional torii gates, built at the entrance of Shinto shrines in Japan.