[3][4][5] The Ancient Romans used ground orchid bulbs to make drinks, which they called by a number of names, especially satyrion and priapiscus.

[6] Of salep, Paracelsus wrote: "behold the Satyrion root, is it not formed like the male privy parts?

Substitution of British orchid roots, known as "dogstones", for the original Turkish variants was acceptable in the 18th century.

The popularity of sahlab in Turkey has led to a decline in the populations of wild orchids, and it was made illegal to export true salep.

Salep is also drunk in Albania and Greece; it is usually sold on the streets as a hot beverage during the cold months of the year.

[20] With the increasing rarity of some species and local extinctions, traders are harvesting wild orchids in Iran.

Abdolbaset Ghorbani of Uppsala University estimates that between 7 and 11 million orchids of nineteen species and sub-species were collected from northern Iran in 2013, with the majority being exported to Turkey.

[1] In the Middle East, "sahlab" is a hot milk-based winter drink with a pudding-like consistency, sometimes garnished with nuts and cinnamon.