Jessica: Spice Bazaar

Blue Mosque on our way to the tram

Spice Bazaar

so so so amazing, made my wish I had a kitchen or a country with very loose customs ha

After the bazaar we had a pit stop at a friendly looking cafe and had our first Salep encounter.

It is the most delicious drink in the world - a combination of custard and condensed milk with cinnamon on top sooo fantastic

It's made from Salep flour which itself is made from grinding the dried tubers of Orchids. Doesn't sound that appealing, but it is!

If you're ever in turkey it's a must! but be sure to have it in a cafe, the stuff they sell on the street isn't nearly as wonderful.

I did some research and think it's because the street Salep sellers use artificial flavouring instead of the real deal.

I also found that the popularity of Salep in Turkey has lead to a huge decline in the population of wild orchids so it's now illegal to export real Salep out of the country (not that Australia would let me bring it anyway) you can buy instant salep mixes but they use the phoney artificial flavouring