Turkish Salep: Creamy Hot Vanilla Milk Drink Dusted with Cinnamon for Cold Nights

Whisk the cornstarch and sugar together in a cold, heavy-bottomed saucepan so the starch cannot clump.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 cups whole milk
• 3 tbsp cornstarch (the home stand-in for rare wild salep flour)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar, or to taste
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp ground mastic or 1/4 tsp rosewater (optional but traditional)
• Ground cinnamon, for a generous dusting
• 2 tbsp finely chopped pistachios, to garnish

Instructions

1. Whisk the cornstarch and sugar together in a cold, heavy-bottomed saucepan so the starch cannot clump.
2. Pour in about 1/2 cup of the cold milk and whisk to a smooth, lump-free slurry before adding the rest of the milk.
3. Set the pan over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, for 8-10 minutes. As it approaches a simmer the drink will thicken to the texture of thin custard that coats the back of a spoon.
4. Lower the heat and let it barely bubble for 2 minutes more, still whisking, so the starch cooks out completely.
5. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, plus the mastic or rosewater if using.
6. Pour into small warmed cups or heatproof glasses, dust each thickly with cinnamon, and scatter chopped pistachios over the top. Serve piping hot with a spoon - it is nearly thick enough to eat.
7. Salep has warmed Istanbul's winter streets since Ottoman times, sold steaming from gleaming copper urns by vendors who ladle it out as snow falls over the Bosphorus. The authentic version is thickened with flour ground from wild orchid tubers - now so protected that true salep rarely leaves Turkey - which is why Turkish home cooks reach for cornstarch. The result is the same: a hug in a cup, and the original ancestor of hot drink thickeners that predates cocoa in Europe.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 210 kcal
• Protein: 8g
• Fat: 8g
• Carbohydrates: 27g
• Fiber: 1g
• Sugar: 22g
• Sodium: 105mg