Over the past twenty years, Tuscany has seen a resurgence of saffron production. In the Middle Ages, Italy was a huge producer of saffron. After the black plague swept thru in the 1300’s and wiped out two thirds of the population in many towns, saffron growing fell off, taken up by North Africa and Spain. Only in Abruzzo, in the province of Aquila, have they been harvesting saffron continually for the past 800 years. When the Tuscan town of San Gimignano decided twenty years ago to start producing saffron again, after a 600 year hiatus, they turned to Aquila to get their bulbs. [Read more…]