Bermudian Holly Paiva and New Yorker Palwasha Raqib have been friends since they met in college in Boston 20 years ago.

But their paths led in different directions. Ms Paiva now runs sleep therapy and reflexology business Dreaming Bermudian, while Ms Raqib works in New York as a lawyer. In her spare time, she loves to cook food from her native Afghanistan.

This year, however, the long-time friends managed to bring their interests together into an Afghanistan saffron business Mina Sahar.

“It is really exciting that our passions have come together – my passion for sleep, dreams and reflexology and her passion for saffron and cooking,” Ms Paiva said. “They work so well together. It is cool.”

Ms Raqib is currently on the island visiting Ms Paiva. This week they are giving tastings of Mina Sahar saffron at several private parties, and also at MilanMIlan on Front Street on Thursday and Friday at happy hour.

“They are going to be putting it on their menu,” Ms Paiva said.

Mina Sahar is also for sale at Lindo’s Market in Devonshire and Lindo’s Family Foods in Warwick.

One way to enjoy the heady fragrance of saffron, is to put it into a tea with a little cardamom.

“It’s not a sedative,” Ms Paiva said. “You can drive somewhere afterward without falling asleep, but it is very relaxing.”

A 2014 study at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia found that saffron can not only help with sleep, but also acts as a mild antidepressant.

Ms Paiva has sold several jars to her sleep clients.

“They have reacted to it really well,” Ms Paiva said. “People who haven’t slept in years are saying they have never had such a sound sleep. They say they feel amazing.”

Saffron is an ingredient that can be used in many different dishes and drinks. Last week the friends had great fun experimenting with different foods and desserts that could be infused with saffron.

Ms Raqib, 41, was born in Jalalabad in Eastern Afghanistan. Her family left the country when she was almost seven, during the Soviet Invasion.

“It was a very difficult time for my family,” she said. “My parents left everything behind and moved to Maine. My father was probably so traumatised by everything he just wanted a quiet place to raise his family and Maine seemed like the place for him.”

Her father started one of the first English as a second language programmes in Brunswick, Maine.

She started thinking about saffron a year ago when she read an article in the New York Times about efforts to replace opium crops in the war-torn Afghanistan with saffron. The opium is used to produce heroine.

Ms Raqib believes that if given a better option, many Afghanistan farmers would prefer to grow something other than opium.

“It is a very messy crop to grow,” she said. “I am not going to say opium growing t is going to be eradicated. Unfortunately, it is ingrained in some communities. But I think less is better.”

Ms Raqib returned to Afghanistan with her sister for the first time a few years ago.

“It was really inspiring,” she said. “You read all these terrible things in the news, but people are still having weddings. Children are going to school. They have to. There is no way around it. If there is anything I can do to improve people’s lives there, I will. I really do believe that it would make a difference.”

She said countries like India and Iran have the lead on saffron sales, but she is impressed by how well Afghanistan is doing with saffron. In recent years, Afghanistan has become the third largest saffron producer behind India and Iran.

But saffron is said to be more expensive than gold. It is labour intensive to grow, collect and process. Saffron threads are dehydrated stigmas, the female part of the saffron crocus flower. Only two or three strands of saffron can be collected from each flower.

“It takes forty hours of labour to get 1lb of saffron,” Ms Raqib said. “That is approximately 75,000 flowers.”

Ms Paiva is keeping the cost down in Bermuda by selling it mostly in one gram and two gram jars.

“We are selling for approximately $33 a gram at Lindos and at more of a discount for two grams,” Ms Paiva said. “You only need a few strands to make tea with, or cook a meal with, so a little bit lasts a long time.”

For more information call 535-4796, e-mail hollypaiva@msn.com or see her Facebook @dreamsandreflexology