Ingredients:

Pure Sahlep 2% (ground orchid tubers); Cornstarch as thickener; Milk powder; Sugar

*Packaged in the same facility as peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, and dairy products.

Background:

Sahlep is a comforting, hot, milk-based winter beverage. Traditionally, Sahlep has a hot chocolate-like consistency and is perfumed with rosewater or orange blossom water; it is also garnished with ground cinnamon and sometimes chopped pistachios on the top. Sahlep has a rich consistency, creamy and velvety texture, with curious custard note, and delightful floral scent. Sahlep warms both your body and heart on a cold winter day. Furthermore; in folk remedy, Sahlep has anecdotally been used to alleviate symptoms of cough, colds and bronchitis.

Beverages prepared with these ground orchid tubers are presumably known since the Greek and Roman times as mentions of this flower are found in ancient medicine manuscripts. Moreover; Sahlep flour is used up to our present day in beverages and desserts served in regions of the former Ottoman Empire: Sahlep is a very popular beverage in Turkiye during the winter months and is often sold by street vendors in Istanbul’s historic areas; also, Sahlep is a well revered beverage in culinary cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean during winter time, particularly in Egypt, the Levant, Greece, the Balkan and Bulgaria.

Sahlep beverage is known in Turkish as “Salep”, in Arabic as “Sahlab”, and in Greek as “Salepi”. The beverage also spread to England and Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries before the rise of coffee and tea. In England, the beverage was known as “Saloop” and was served in coffee houses as an alternative to tea and coffee.

Our Sahlep powder blend is mixed at the Tahmis Roasting & Production facility in Gaziantep, Turkiye. Tahmis was established in 1635, and has since developed a long standing tradition of crafting the finest quality Terebinth coffee, Turkish coffee blends and Antep pistachio delicacies across Southeastern Turkiye.

Preparation:

Sahlep beverage is prepared with whole milk that is thickened with Sahlep powder blend, sweetened with sugar if desired, and perfumed with rosewater or orange blossom water. Traditionally, Sahlep is garnished with ground cinnamon and optionally chopped pistachios on the top.

Please note that our Sahlep powder blend already has sugar amongst its ingredients, so after preparing the Sahlep beverage it may already be sweet enough to your liking, and you may not even need to add extra sugar while preparing the beverage.

Traditional Sahlep Recipe

Ingredients for 2 Servings:

• 2 tablespoons Sahlep powder blend
• 2 standard cups whole milk - A standard cup in North America is equivalent to 8 oz or roughly 240 ml
• Sugar if desired
• 1 teaspoon (or to liking) rosewater or orange blossom water for perfuming
• Ground cinnamon and optionally chopped pistachios for garnishing

Preparation Steps:

• In a suitable-sized saucepan, combine the measured amounts of Sahlep powder blend and milk (and sugar if desired), while continuously whisking.
• Set saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a simmer, while constantly whisking.
• When the mixture has thickened to a hot chocolate-like consistency, add the measured amount of rosewater or orange blossom water, and mix it well prior to taking the beverage off the heat.
• Divide the beverage between 2 cups, then garnish with ground cinnamon and optionally chopped pistachios on the top.
• You may now savour your Sahlep with someone you love on a cold winter day. Feel free to stir your Sahlep with a dessert spoon between a few sips if it gets thicker.

More Info:

Pure Sahlep is a flour produced from the tubers of the wild orchid genus Orchis (including the species Orchis mascula and Orchis militaris) that naturally grows in the region of Kahramanmaraş in Southeastern Anatolia in Turkiye, as well as in some regions in Greece and Iran. These tubers (bulb-like structures in the roots) contain mucilage and a nutritious, starchy polysaccharide called glucomannan; both substances have thickening properties that are responsible for thickening the milk while preparing this hot beverage.

These wild orchids are unique such as the flower root consists of two tubers of different sizes; the bigger tuber nourishes the flower throughout the year, whereas the smaller tuber serves as the spare tuber that will look after nourishing the flower the following year. Although Sahlep flour can be produced from both tubers, producers pick only the smaller tubers in order to prevent this precious wild flower from becoming extinct. When the smaller tuber is picked, the bigger tuber will regenerate a new smaller tuber, and thereby the flower survives in such a subtle manner.

After the wild orchid tubers are picked late summer to early fall, they are washed then boiled in water in order to remove their essential oils; this process is of utmost importance as these essential oils impart a bitter taste to the Sahlep flour. Afterwards, the tubers are dried in open air then ground so as to produce what we refer to as Sahlep flour or pure Sahlep.

The sad side to this story is that the population of these precious wild orchids has recently been declining in Turkiye, and as such the exportation of pure Sahlep has been banned by Turkish authorities. Furthermore; regulations have since been in place to limit pure Sahlep content in commercial Sahlep powder blends to a maximum of 2%, which is the pure Sahlep content we have in our blend. The good news though is that, over the past few years, local authorities in Turkiye have been working with cultivators in the Kahramanmaraş region, in order to promote the cultivation of these wild orchids in an effort to offset their declining population.