TURKISH DELIGHT

Turkish delight or lokum is a family of confections. 

They consist of small, fragrant cubes of jelly, traditionally flavoured with rosewater, orange flower water or lemon juice and dusted with icing sugar. 

Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel. 

The origin of the confection is not well established, but it is known to have been produced in Turkey as early as the late 1700s, hence its name. 

Turkish delight are served with coffee or tea in the Middle East. 

Turkish delight is the British name for a sweet called lokum, one of many spellings and a corrupted version of the original phrase, rahatü’l-hulkum, which means “giving rest to the throat.” Mary Işın, a food historian and author of Sherbet & Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts, which includes a full chapter on the history of lokum, dates the origins of the sweet to the 18th century. Lokum was probably invented by palace confectioners, though the original exporter, Hacı Bekir, claims to have masterminded it.