Lokum

Lokum or Turkish Delight .... Turkish delight or Lokum is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; the cheapest are mostly gel, generally flavored with rosewater, mastic, or lemon. The confection is often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing sugar, copra, or powdered cream of Tartar, to prevent clinging. Other common types include such flavors as cinnamon and mint. In the production process, soapwort may be used as an emulsifying additive. As expected, Turkish Delight originated in Turkey, which is still very much one of the most popular sweets eaten. Turkish Delight has been around since the fifteenth century, and there are several stories of how Turkish Delight was invented originally. One story is that there was once a sultan of Turkey, which had a large harem. The ladies of the harem were always fighting and the sultan was tired of him, so he came up with an ingenious plan. Court ordered his confectioner to reach a sweet that was so delicious that the women of his harem and discuss his peace would reign throughout the palace. The plan worked admirably, and Sultan’s harem ladies tired of the wonderful Turkish Delight again and put an end to their disputes. Another story about the origins of Turkish Delight is that the candy was created by a baker named Bekir Effendi. Bekir was a small village in the mountains of Anatolia and moved to Istanbul to open a candy store in 1776. Bekir was also known as Haci Bekir after completing their hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Bekir was a very creative candy maker and one of the novelty candy produced in his kitchen was Turkish Delight. It is believed that the original Turkish Delight was based on an ancient Anatolia was sweet with honey or grape syrup and mixed with flour and water. Word spread about his incredible all Istanbul Turkish Delight and pieces of Turkish Delight Shopping wrapped in a lace handkerchief became one of the fashionable things to do. Finally, the Sultan came to hear of the new sweet Bekir had created and was so pleased to be awarded a Medal of Honor Bekir Turkish Delight and soon to be enjoyed over the royal court. Bekir Effendi confectionery shop still stands today in Istanbul and continues to sell their delicious Turkish delights. Haci Bekir Confectionery is the oldest Turkish company still operating in its original location. The company has expanded into a worldwide company and now has representative companies in the U.S., Britain, Japan, France, Egypt and South Africa