turkey is known for its baths and towels the world over. i recently realised that it makes good confectionery as well. our daughter l recently presented me with a packet of "turkish delight". it brought me much joy.
small cubes made out of starch and sugar and garnished with icing sugar to prevent sticking due to its inherent stickiness and having an added flavour of almond.it is also available with pistacchio and cinnamon flavours.
like many other inventions this too happened by accident. a famous sultan of the ottoman empire ordered the palace confectioner to prepare a unique sweet to please the wives in his harem. the confectioner, after many rejections, ultimately came up with the magic recipe that has remained unchanged ever since.
what did he do? simple. he blended a mixture of sugar cyrup,various flavourings and nuts. and voila! the now internationally famous lokum was born. and then a british traveller became so fascinated with this delicacy that he shipped cases of lokum to britain. thus ali mohiddin haci beker,confectioner to the royalty,who was asked by the sultan to make soft candy also became famous.
adnan ozdogru,a greek lokum maker,has applied for european union trademark protection.inspired by pop diva madonna's lyrics "i've got turkish delight baby and so much more", he has produced "madonna lokum". a formula containing honey and a few aphrodisiacs. he is immensely grateful to the pop music icon for endorsing the "turkish delight".
the sultan's selection and the harem's delight. very very enjoyable.
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