Greetings from Turkey,Antalya.. I am so sorry but my goverment has not forbidden 'salep' exporting..Only forbidden picking out terrestrial orchids from area but also permitted to pick them out by under control..I can not say it is working..All are out of control.. And our ice cream which is not bad as been described.There may be false some under the very famous brands.. Zeki ikiz, Antalya, fully mediterranean :) On Tuesday, July 1, 2014 8:10 PM, Rodger Whitlock <totototo@telus.net> wrote: On 27 Jun 2014, at 16:13, Judy Glattstein wrote: > Who'd a thought? > > "Dondurma, Turkish ice cream, is traditionally made with ... salep, which is > derived from the bulbs of wild Anatolian orchids. I've had salap (also spelled salep, salab, etc) as a hot beverage. I've read (somewhere!) that the Turkish government has forbidden the export of salap, but you often see boxes of it in stores devoted to Middle Eastern foodsm but the last package I bought seemed to me to be nothing more than a rather poor quality cornstarch pudding. Interesting stuff, and now that you've mentioned konjac powder as a substitute, I'll be keeping an eye open for it. Something in me likes stringy hot pudding flavored variously with mastic, orange blossom water or rose water. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Z. 7-8, cool Mediterranean climate