Dear Readers, I am currently reading ‘Cold Kitchen’ by Caroline Eden. In it, she recounts her culinary journeys to places as distant as Uzbekistan (where she buys winter melons from a farmer at the roadside), Georgia and Istanbul. And in Istanbul, what should she try but Salep, which, as you might remember, is made from the roots of orchids.

Here’s what she has to say.

“Taking my seat at the back of the café, I spotted salep on the menu, a warm winter drink made from the powdered dry tubers of wild orchids, specifically Ophrys speculum, which has weird furry bumblebee-like flowers. I ordered a glass. Two steel shakers, one of ginger and one of cinnamon, were set down with the cup and I sprinkled both powders onto the drink, hot and dairy-tasting. It instantly reminded me of childhood, its subtle favour not easy to nail down: vanilla-like, reminiscent of mastic, earthy, woody, smooth as velvet. The sort of thing you’d take to sip under the covers while reading a bedtime story. Later, I read about what should have been obvious – that excessive collecting of such orchids, which kills the plant, has led to serious conservation issues for wild orchid populations. One website claims that ‘a single cup of salep needs about 13 orchid tubers’. Feeling guilty, I vowed never to have it again'”.

Pyramidal orchid in East Finchley car park

I am thoroughly enjoying this book, though reading it last thing at night does have a tendency to make me get up in search of something sustaining from the fridge, so be warned….