SALEP

a starchy meal of Asiatic production obtained from the decorticated, cooked, and dried tuberous roots of several varieties of orchids. It is exported chiefly via Smvina. Before grinding. it is generally seen in the form of small, oval pieces of a rather dirty, whitish-yellow; tough in texture, and with a slightly salt, gummy taste. When pulverized and mixed with boilmg milk. it swells to a semi-transparent pudding-jelly, which is considered an excellent food for children and convalescents. In diluted form. with milk and sugar added, it was formerly sold from satep-stalls as a night and early morning beverage for London workmen. The salep-stalls, however, long ago made way for coffee-stalls. In the Orient it is used medicinally for nervous disorders.