After searching the internet, it would appear that saffron is another one of those seasonings that has a taste that differs quite widely from person to person, Like cilantro, you either love it or hate it. It is clearly a difference based on a person’s individual taste buds and their own palate. Here is a list of the different comments I found on the internet. What I found most interesting was all the different ways people described the taste. I slightly modified the wording of the last one to clean up the language used! LOL
a faint honey flavor
it tastes like the sea.
an earthy taste
a smokey taste
it’s a mixture of sweet and bitter
a bitter, honey-like taste
a bit flowery, sort of perfumey
something cozy and warm
burnt flowers
kind of dusty-tasting
air of staleness and old cupboard
Tastes like metal
gasoline/latex paint flavor
tastes medicinal
a monkey’s posterior
Okay I tried the Mashed Potato soup recipe I had found and it was just okay, so I doctored the recipe and made it great! Here it is for all to enjoy!
My Mashed Potato Soup
Half a package of Bacon (12-16 oz.)
1 medium or large onion, chopped (my family loves onion so I use a large onion)
2-3 Tablespoons Butter
About 3-4 tablespoons of flour
4 cups of chicken stock
2 – 3 cups of leftover mashed potatoes
½ pound cheddar Cheese, grated
1-2 cups of cream depending on how creamy and rich you want the soup
Salt and pepper to taste (I like to use white pepper for this soup)
Chopped Chives to garnish
Cut bacon into small pieces and sauté in a large stock pot to desired doneness. (We don’t like ours to be overly crisp in a soup, but that is the only way some people eat bacon.). Remove bacon from the pan, but leave the bacon grease. Sauté onion in the bacon drippings adding butter if needed now. When onions are translucent add more butter if needed and stir in flour. Cook for about a minute to cook the flour taste out. Whisk in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring with the whisk while the soup thickens. Whisk in leftover mashed potatoes, and reduce heat to low. Gradually add the grated cheddar cheese a little at a time making sure it has melted into the soup before adding more. Add bacon back into the soup. Taste soup and add salt and pepper if needed now. Finish soup by stirring in the cream. Taste soup again to make sure seasonings are perfect before serving. Top each bowl of soup with chopped chives.
Variations: For a chunky soup, you may wish to add chunks of potato or even other veggies. This would also be good with some diced ham added to it too.
For a lower fat version try adding milk instead of cream at the end and for a low fat version, you could leave out the cream completely. (I tasted it before adding the cream and it was quite good that way too, but my family loves rich creamed soups, so I added the cream to finish it off.