That Translator Can Cook: Sahlab
A warm, thick drink traditionally made with orchid powder dissolved in milk or water, flavored with orange blossom or rose water, and garnished with crushed pistachios and ground cinnamon.
Even though I’m lactose intolerant, I have indulged in drinking sahlab at the small internet cafes in Amman and Hebron. I’ve never tried to make a non-dairy version for myself, but that will be for another day.
Sahlab, sahlep in Turkish, was introduced to the Middle East by the Ottomans. It also became very popular in England during the 18th and 19th centuries and was called saloop. This is a lovely, warm drink for winter that rivals hot chocolate!
Sahlab in Arabic means ‘orchid,’ which is the original powder that thickens the drink. However, because the drink's popularity has led to the decline in the wild orchid population, rice or starch powder is typically used in the instant sahlab powders sold in stores outside of Turkey. It is actually illegal to export orchid powder from Turkey.
Sahlab powder is made by drying orchid tubers and grinding them into powder. These tubers contain glucomannan, which has many health benefits: promoting weight loss; lowering blood cholesterol and sugar; treating constipation; and lowering the risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Here’s how to make sahlab! The picture and recipe belong to Kitchen Maestro Nisreen.
Ingredients
4 cups of milk
2 teaspoons of natural, unprocessed, sahlab (sahlep) powder
1 cinnamon stick
4 tablespoons of sugar or to taste
A dash of mastic gum powder (optional)
For Garnish: Crushed pistachios and cinnamon powder
Steps
Pour 3 cups of milk into a saucepan on medium heat, and add the sugar and cinnamon stick. Stir well until the sugar dissolves, then let the milk sit until it becomes very hot.
In a bowl, dissolve the sahlab powder into the remaining cup of cold milk, stirring well until there aren’t any clumps left. Then, pour the sahlab mixture over the hot milk on the stove while whisking it until the milk thickens a bit.
Add the mastic gum powder and stir for another thirty seconds, then turn off the burner.
Serve hot in mugs and garnish them with the pistachios and cinnamon powder.
Translators’ Discussion:
I continued to use ‘sahlab’ despite the original (Turkish) name being ‘sahlep’ because I was translating from Arabic not Turkish and both sound foreign in English. I suppose I could’ve dubbed it “Hot Orchid,” but in my opinion. considering that there isn’t much actual orchid powder outside of Turkey, there wouldn’t much point. What do you all think about this?
Did you know that mastic gum is also known as ‘Arabic gum,’ but it’s different from ‘gum Arabic’? I did not and it took me a while to choose the best term.
I wrestled with how to translate "بتحريكه جيداً" in step 2. At first I had “stirring vigorously” since we are supposed to be making there are no clumps, but since “whisking” is used later in the next sentence, it seemed redundant. I also thought about using “whisking” for both instances, but then that would’ve been repetitive, so I stuck with “stirring well.” Any suggestions?