Some women collect shoes. Others, jewellery. Me? It’s all about the weird and wonderful things I can EAT!
Salep is a kind of thickening agent/flour that’s made from orchids, and it’s used in middle eastern cuisine to give foods – like ice cream – a sort of stretchy texture. Turkish ice cream, in particular, is known for this, and while it doesn’t have much flavour on its own, the texture is freaky AF. At Hakiki Turkish Ice Cream in Newtown, they not only have Salep thickened ice cream, they also have them in all sorts of Middle Eastern flavours to tempt you. A bit like a belly dancer. A good one though. Not the ones at restaurants at Saturday night that you don’t want to make eye contact with.
I had the pomegranate, which was lovely and fruity, but the tahini. Oh. My. God the Tahini. Like the Asian black sesame but creamier and richer. And somehow healthy-feeling. I’m sure it’s not, but any delusion that lets me continue to eat this amazing ice cream is a good delusion.
If ice cream is not quite your thing, well there’s always Turkish Coffee on the menu to, to give you that late afternoon pick-me-up.
But really. Go the ice cream. Trust me.