Saffron noted as hay-like and sweet. Saffron also contributes a luminous yellow-orange colouring to foods. Saffron is widely used in Persian, Indian, European, and Arab cuisines. Confectioneries and liquors also often include saffron. Saffron is used in dishes ranging from the jewelled rice and "khoresh" of Iran, the Milanese "risotto" of Italy, the "paella" of Spain, the "bouillabaisse" of France, to the "biryani" with various meat accompaniments in South Asia. One of the most esteemed use for saffron is in the preparation of the "Golden Ham", a precious dry-cured ham made with saffron from San Gimignano. Common saffron substitutes include safflower
History of saffron flowers mixed with roasted beans; this was used topically on men. Women ingested a more complex preparation. In Greco-Roman times saffron was widely traded across the Mediterranean by the Phoenicians. Their customers ranged from the perfumers of Rosetta, in Egypt, to physicians in Gaza to townsfolk in Rhodes, who wore pouches of saffron in order to mask the presence of malodorous fellow citizens during outings to the theatre. For the Greeks, saffron was widely associated with professional courtesans and retainers known as the "hetaerae". Large dye works operating in Sidon and Tyre used saffron baths as a substitute; there, royal