Where finally the draining of marſhy grounds can not be effected at a reſponſible expence, ſome plants may perhaps be cultivated with profit to the cultivator; as in ſome ſituations the feſtica fluitans, floating feſcue, callitriche, ſtar-graſs; or in others the orchis for the purpoſe of making ſaloop by drying the peeled roots in an oven.

The tubers of one [orchid] species, Orchis mascula, produce a flour called salep, which was made into a drink known as "saloop" in 18th-century London, as an alternative to coffee (Charles Lamb thought it the ideal breakfast for chimney sweeps). Salep is a Turkish word with an even more precise derivation (it's from the Arabic for "fox's testicles"). Despite this, the Turks still use it to make a strange elastic ice cream, eaten with a knife and fork, which carries a pungent aftertaste compared by one commentator to the scent of "goats on a rainy day". Salep ice cream is so popular that O. mascula is now a protected species in Turkey.

Salep

Meaning

Noun

Origin

Synonyms