I thought Spring had arrived, but that was just a cruel trick the weather played on me. The wind here is icy! :( This cold weather does have one redeeming feature though...it is perfect weather for drinking salep, a deliciously sweet hot drink that tastes a little bit like rice pudding. It is made from salep flour which gives it a rich, velvety texture. I like it best sprinkled with cinnamon which gives it a gorgeous wintery flavour.
I was surprised to find out that, traditionally, salep flour is made by grinding dried orchid tubers (although there are plenty of artificial versions available). Unfortunately, the use of these orchid tubers to make salep and also the Turkish icecream (maras dondurma) has led to dramtically decreased numbers of wild orchids in Turkey. So I am sticking to the artifcial powder which you should be able to buy from Turkish grocery stores. I used Binnur's recipe from turkishcookbook.com and it was delicious!
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