Everything About Turkish Delight & Delicious Recipe!

Turkish Delight or Lokum is a dessert with a soft texture that appeared during the Ottoman Empire. It is thought to be named after the Arabic and Persian words “lukme”, “lokma”, meaning “a piece of food thrown into the mouth at once”.

Characteristics of Turkish Delight

The appearance of the marshmallow should be soft and its texture should be elastic, it should be able to take its former shape after pressing with the finger, it should be felt as soft and slippery in the mouth.

Today; plain, pecan, pistachio nuts, walnuts, almonds, coconut, orange, rose petals, strawberry, lemon delight, as well as the creamy, minty, vanilla and ginger are produced in many kinds of delight as delight.

History of Turkish Delight

There are several different rumors about how it turned out. For example, it is among the most widely told that it has been produced in Anatolia since the 15th century.

However, according to many different sources, its appears in the 18th century. Towards the end of the 18th century, the Sultan of the period Abdülhamit wanted a soft candy instead of hard candy, and a competition was held on it. As a result of the competition, “Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir” is selected first and the soft candies that come from his hands, namely the Turkish Delight that we eat with pleasure today, take their place in the palace kitchen.

Lokum, which was produced in abundance at that time, is becoming more and more popular and the fame of Turkish delight is being transferred to Europe. A British traveler also loves the taste of lokum during his visit and takes a lot of lokum with him just before his return journey. When it is very popular there, many travelers start visiting to taste lokum, just like him, and they do not neglect to take a lot of lokum with them on their way back to their countries. As such, the reputation of lokum is increasing day by day and this flavor is also becoming a well-known taste in Europe. Even Napoleon loved lokum. Its name is beginning to be known as “Turkish Delight” as it is known in many parts of the world today.

At that time, water, starch and honey or molasses were used as the basis, and it required skill to give consistency to the delight. For this reason, while those who make Turkish delight with a nice consistency are seen as masters, over time, granulated sugar is started to be used instead of honey or molasses. However, even today, granulated sugar is not used in traditional recipes.

First, different ingredients such as rose water and lemon juice are added to add flavor to the plain Turkish delight. Over time, nuts such as hazelnuts and pistachios begin to take their place in the Turkish delight, and thus, different flavors that appeal to every palate emerge. The powdered sugar on it starts to be used to prevent the Turkish delight grains from sticking to each other. Although recipe changes shape over time, it remains one of the most faithfully prepared foods.

In addition, Turkish delight is traditionally served with Turkish coffee. The strong taste of Turkish coffee is sweetened with Turkish delight. For Turkish coffee recipe and other information, you can check our topic here. Turkish Coffee

We talked about a lot of information about Turkish delight. If you want, let’s share a recipe that you can make at home.

Homemade Turkish Delight with Orange Recipe

Ingredients;

• 2 glasses of orange juice,
• 1 espresso cup granulated sugar,
• 1 espresso cup wheat starch

to add it on top;

• 1/2 espresso cup coconut,
• 1 tablespoon of pistachios

How is it done?

1. Squeeze the oranges and get 2 glasses of orange juice. Strain the orange juice you have prepared through a strainer again and make sure that there is no sediment left in it.
2. Put the drained orange juice in a saucepan. Add the sugar and starch to it, whisk and turn on the january of the stove and cook, stirring, until it boils.
3. Pour the mixture, which is like a pellet, into the espresso cups that you have soaked and let it rest for 2 hours in the refrigerator after it reaches room temperature.
4. Take it out of the fridge, dip it in coconut and put it on a serving plate.
5. Garnish the top with powdered pistachios and serve. Enjoy your meal!

You can watch the video of the recipe here.

Source(Turkish) :1 2