Salep
Salep (Sahlep in Turkish) is a flour made from grinding the dried tubers of various species of
orchid, which contain a nutritious starch-like
polysaccharide called
bassorin.
Salep is also the name of a beverage made from salep flour, whose popularity spread beyond Turkey and the Middle East to England and Germany before the rise of
coffee and
tea.
The beverage salep is sometimes referred to as
Turkish Delight, though that name is more commonly used for
lokum.Other desserts are also made from salep flour, including salep pudding and
salep ice cream. The
KahramanmaraÅŸ region of
Turkey is a major producer of salep known as Salepi MaraÅŸ.
The name salep comes from the Arabic expression "fox testicles"â€"a graphic description of the appearance of orchid tubers. It is probably for this reason that salep is considered an
aphrodisiac. Note that likewise the word orchid comes from the Greek word for testicle.
The popularity of salep in Turkey has led to a decline in the populations of wild orchids. As a result it is illegal to export true salep out of the country.[
1] Thus, many instant salep mixes are made with artificial flavoring.
The Ancient Romans also used ground orchid bulbs to make drinks, which they called by a number of names, especially
satyrion and
priapiscus. As the names indicate, they likewise considered it to be a powerful aphrodisiac.
*
Dondurma*
from Botanical.com*
Salon.com article on Salep icecream
