There is a spice sitting quietly in your kitchen cabinet that, by weight, has rivaled gold throughout much of human history.

Have you ever wondered why a tiny pinch of saffron costs more than most spices you'll find in your kitchen? Let's be real, when you first see the price tag on this crimson thread, your jaw might drop.

A glimpse at Kashmir’s saffron harvest. Paper replicas of saffron flowers, which are harvested in mid-autumn (past our press time), made for T by the artist Sourabh Gupta.Credit...Photograph by Esther ...