Ingredients

  • 2 cupswhole milk
  • 1 tbspsahlab powder
  • 2 tbspsugar
  • ¼ tspground cinnamon(for garnish)

🔧 Tools

saucepanladle

Instructions

  1. Whisk sahlab powder with a little cold milk to make paste.
  2. Heat remaining milk in a saucepan.
  3. Add sahlab paste and sugar whisking constantly.
  4. Continue stirring until thickened about 5 minutes.
  5. Serve warm dusted with cinnamon.

📜 History

Salep is a traditional Turkish hot drink made from the flour of wild orchid tubers, consumed since Ottoman times. Street vendors once roamed Istanbul selling this warming winter beverage, calling out "Saleeeep!" through snowy streets. The drink also forms the base of Turkish ice cream, giving it a distinctive stretchy texture. Due to conservation concerns about wild orchids, authentic salep has become rare and expensive, though the tradition continues with alternative ingredients.

#mocktail#turkish#traditional#hot#winter-warmer