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Salep, also spelled sahlep, salepi or sahlab,; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; is a flour made from the tubers of the orchid genus Orchis (including species Orchis mascula and Orchis militaris). These tubers contain a nutritious, starchy polysaccharide called glucomannan. Salep flour is consumed in beverages and desserts, especially in the Ottoman cuisine, notably in the Levant where it is a traditional winter beverage. An increase in consumption is causing local extinctions of orchids in parts of Greece, Turkey and Iran.
Salep was a popular beverage in the lands of the Ottoman Empire. It enjoyed a reputation as a "fattener" for young women, to make them plumper before marriage. Its consumption spread beyond there to England and Germany before the rise of coffee and tea, and it was later offered as an alternative beverage in coffee houses. In England, the drink was known as saloop. Popular in the 17th and 18th centuries in England, its preparation required that the salep powder be added to water until thickened whereupon it would be sweetened, then flavored with orange flower or rose water. Substitution of British orchid roots, known as "dogstones", for the original Turkish variants was acceptable in the 18th century.Davidson, p. 683.
This beverage was sold in place of tea and coffee, which were much more expensive, and was served in a similar way with milk and sugar.
It was used as a remedy for various ailments, including "chronic alcoholic inebriety" and scurvy. (2025). 9780385544764, Doubleday. ISBN 9780385544764 Its popularity declined when it was purported to treat venereal disease and so drinking it in public became shameful. Saloop stalls in London were replaced by coffee stalls.
It is estimated that each year in Turkey, 30 tons of tubers from 38 species are harvested; it takes from 1,000 to 4,000 tubers to make a kilo of flour.Eng Soon Teoh With the increasing rarity of some species and local extinctions, traders are harvesting wild orchids in Iran. Abdolbaset Ghorbani of Uppsala University estimates that between 7 and 11 million orchids of nineteen species and sub-species were collected from northern Iran in 2013, with the majority being exported to Turkey. Harvesting of orchid tubers is also increasing in Greece.
In the Middle East, "sahlab" is a hot milk-based winter drink with a creamy consistency, topped with cinnamon and sold as street food or made at home. In the summer season, it is cooled and garnished with nuts to make "muhallebi".
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