What's Different - SOHO Creamery

The Orchid Root (Salep)

Salep is what makes our ice cream extraordinary. It gives our ice cream its amazing taste and lovely stretchy consistency.

This magical ingredient has been used traditionally in the middle east for thousands of years. It comes from the root of a wild orchid that grows in the mountainous areas of Turkey. Salep is traditionally beleived to ail gastrointestinal problems and give radience to the skin and increase virility.

The wild orchids being used in making salep are now endangered so we found a way to cultivate this precious plant for our ice cream production and no longer harvest the wild ones.

What’s Different

“You can’t make good ice cream with average ingredients.”

We’ve been honing our production methods for five generations but some things never change. Our top priority is always the ingredients – in season, top-quality and locally sourced where possible.

Like Yaşar’s grandma said, “You can’t make good ice cream with average ingredients.”

Story of Saloop

At the beginning of the 19th-century salep (then called saloop), stands were a common sight on the streets of London. Salep arrived in London from the Ottoman Empire, modern-day Turkey, and was quickly loved by Londoners due to its warm, sweet, and nutritious properties.

Salep was usually served at night due to the belief that it was the ‘best cure ever’for hangovers and early in the morning for its warming properties.

Salep could be found in coffee houses, tea gardens, and salep stalls around central London especially around Covent Garden and Soho, packed with music halls and small theaters at the time. This has been an inspiration for us to take over the name SOHO Creamery.

Salep disappeared from the streets of London towards the end of the 19th century, as tea and coffee became more commonplace. 150 years later, SOHO Creamery is proud to bring salep back to London, not only as a hot drink but also in ice cream form.

Good things come to those who wait.

Of course, vegans can go for the sorbets, but our vegan coconut ice cream, which is the first in our vegan ice cream collection, is something out of this world. It’s creamy, it’s stretchy and we are positive it’s has the best texture and consistency among all the vegan ice creams we tasted. More flavours are being created by Yaşar as we speak. Just wait for it…

Flavours that you’ve never heard of.

We love creating original flavours in our workshop. Although not all of them see the daylight, Orange and Ginger, Strawberry and Banana Chips, Black Mulberry and Lavender have been quite the sensation.

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