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Saloop or Salep

The preparation known under this name consists chiefly of starch. It is obtained from the roots of the common male orchis (Orchis mascula). When boiled it constitutes an agreeable article of diet, and was commonly used in this country before the introduction of tea and coffee. Sassafras chips were frequently introduced into the decoction for the purpose of giving it a flavour. The roots of the Orchis maculata also yield an inferior sort of salep. Although now almost entirely in disuse in this country, it is still employed in Turkey and the East. The salep imported from India is in white oval pieces, hard, clear, and pellucid, without smell, and tasting like tragacanth. It is a light, bland, and nutritious article of diet. Salep is more nutritive than either arrowroot or sago, and consequently is better adapted for the convalescent than the sick.