The Orchid Family

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, throughout history, different countries and cultures have had their own ways of utilizing the many various types of members of the very large orchid family. The author points out that, even in antiquity, during the Middle Ages and to the present, orchids are supposed to have medicinal properties such as aphrodisiacs and as a cures for a wide variety of disorders from combating heart troubles to treating scabies. The paper relates that a number of orchid species have been used as a source of food but the only widely used product is salep; however, the only orchids that have any fiscal impact, outside the flower market, is vanilla.

From the Paper:

"Vanilla ice cream is one of our familiar desserts, but have we ever heard about "fox testicle ice cream"? Koopowitz introduces Eric Hansen's experiences about such a kind of ice cream. Eric Hansen relates his experiences in Turkey researching a form of ice cream made from the tubers of orchids. The Turkish name salepli dondurma translates literally into "fox testicle ice cream". The history of this dessert goes back nearly 500 years. Hansen describes the ice cream is " slightly sweet with a subtle, nutty flavor similar to drink milk powder. It also had a hint of mushroom, yak butter, or goats on a rainy day." And he calculated that one ice cream store about 2.5 tons of dried orchid tubers, which translates into nearly 5 tons of fresh tubers. With each tuber weighting only a few grams, millions of plants need to be harvested each year to supply a single ice dream producer. But the locals claim that the plants are still abundant and unaffected by the harvest. This ice cream is reputed to have several health benefits including improving a man's sexual prowess."

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