Without fail, this tender, delicately flavored dish of lemony saffron-honey salmon claims a spot on my dining table every spring during Nowruz (Persian New Year) celebrations. Similar to eating turkey at Christmas and lamb at Easter, eating fish with sabzi polo (Persian herbed rice) is synonymous with this festival rooted in Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian religion.

Traditionally in Iran, sabzi polo is eaten with smoked white fish caught in the Caspian sea. However, many of us in the diaspora have adapted to use the fish that’s available to us. Primarily, we will prepare and serve broiled marinated salmon and/or a crispy battered white fish, such as grey mullet, alongside our famous herbed rice dish.

This recipe is my own family recipe, which I’ve adapted to include some honey. I find that the honey complements the saffron, lemon, and garlic in the marinade and balances the flavors perfectly. Other than marinating the salmon overnight, the preparation and cooking time take less than 25 minutes.

Outside of Nowruz, this broiled salmon can be eaten anytime during the year and is equally delicious served with roasted vegetables or a hearty herby salad like orzo tabbouleh. And, as an alternative to broiling, you can bake, air-fry, or grill the salmon.

For those who might not be familiar with this spice, consider this a little crash course. Saffron is a delicate, bright-red spice that is derived from the stigmas of the crocus flower. It has a musty and floral flavor profile. 

Saffron is the most expensive spice per gram in the world, and has rightfully earned its nickname of “red gold.” This is because each crocus flower yields only three stigmas, which are picked by hand and then dried to create saffron strands. Reportedly, it takes up to 200,000 individual stigmas to yield about one pound of saffron! The labor-intensive harvesting process, combined with the low crop yield, makes this spice more expensive.

Saffron is graded based on its aroma, color, and flavor. It is further graded according to the amount of red stigma and yellow styles (aka strands) it contains. When buying saffron, do not buy pre-ground saffron; instead shoot for threads to ensure it contains red stigma tips only, with no orange or yellow styles.

Iran and Spain are considered to be the two main players in the production of high-grade saffron, so I recommend buying saffron produced by these two countries. More specifically, Iranian sargol and Spanish coupé are both excellent high-grade saffron.

There is no substitute for saffron in this recipe. And don’t be tempted to use turmeric; while it has a similar golden color, it has a completely different flavor profile.