Extract

Some Like it Hot

by Berrin Torolsan

In summer, salep is best enjoyed in ice cream, but when the nights draw in, it is comfort in a cup, writes Berrin Torolsan

Ginger or cinnamon powder adds zest to cup of milky salep (photograph: Berrin Torolsan)

Two Victorian scholars in British India, the Scottish Orientalist and geographer Sir Henry Yule, and an English linguist and civil servant,
AC Burnell, together prepared an Anglo-Indian glossary of colloquial words, phrases and idioms borrowed or modified from the Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil and Kashmiri as well as Portuguese. It was published in 1886 under the odd title of Hobson-Jobson, said to have originated in British soldiers’ anglicising of “Ya Hasan! Ya Hüseyin!, the repeated cries of Indian Muslims during the Muharram processions mourning for the martyrs Hasan and Hüseyin. A case of Chinese whispers that corrupted many of the loan words that fill the thousand pages of this fascinating dictionary.

Among them we find the word “saleb” or “salep”. After giving a detailed botanical description, the putative medicinal benefits are listed. Although modern authorities might disbelieve the virtues ascribed to it by the wise men of the past, the authors say: “A decoction of it, spiced and sweetened, makes an agreeable drink for invalids.” “Saloop,” it reads on, “is, or used to be, supplied hot in winter mornings by itinerant vendors in the streets of London” and is still (1886) being sold there “in balls, and comes mostly from Smyrna [modern Izmir]”…

Salep
1 glass (250ml) whole milk (cold)
1 teaspoon (5–6g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5–6g) salep powder
Cinnamon or ginger powder (optional)

These ingredients are for one serving. Increase the quantities accordingly. You can omit sugar altogether or add more, depending on how sweet your tooth is.

1 Combine cold milk, sugar (if using it) and salep powder in a pan and bring to the boil by stirring constantly.
2 Reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes or more, stirring to allow the salep to coagulate further.
3 Serve in teacups or mugs and enjoy hot.
4 A sprinkling of cinnamon or ginger powder depends on preference but it definitely adds goodness.

For further recipies, order Cornucopia 68, or subscribe to the digital archive, which includes all of Berrin Torolsan’s recipes since Cornucopia No 1.

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