April 4, 2025 • 27 mins
This soft, chewy jelly candy ranges from a simple treat to fabulously fancy. Anney and Lauren dig into the sweet science and sticky history of Turkish delight (aka lokum).
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hell loa and welcome to Savor production of iHeart Radio.
I'm Annie Reese and I'm.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Lauren Vogel Bam, and today we have an episode for
you about Turkish delight.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Yes, was there any particular reason this was on your mind?
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Lauren?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Well ed?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Alpha tyre was this past weekend. It's a holiday celebrating
the end in the breaking of the fast of the
holy month of Ramadan. And it's a family and community holiday,
you know, like people dress up nice kids especially might
get gifts. There's feasting and a lot of treats, and
you know, of course there are all kinds of traditions
and cuisines attached to eat all around the world. But
(00:44):
a treat that I saw come up pretty often was
Turkish delight, and I've been wanting to do an episode
about it.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So here we are, Here we are. Yes, I don't
have too much experience with Turkish delight. I think I've
had some none of it. I think has been the
good stuff, shall we say?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh okay, yeah, I haven't had the fancy kinds, but
just the plain old like like rosewater jelly cubes type
is actually one of my favorite things. And I know
that that makes like I've seen a lot of There
have been many words spoken about how terrible Turkish delight
(01:25):
is on the internet. I think mostly from people who
didn't know what it was when they read Lion, the Witch,
and the Wardrobe and were imagining chocolate.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
And but I really like rose water.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yes, which, speaking of you can see our fictional foods
episode that we did on Chronicles of Narnia where we
did talk about this.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Or our rosewater episode maybe like marshmallow vaguely related?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Sure, yeah, cream of Tartar an episode of that I
definitely did.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yes, Oh yes, I consulted my notes for that in here,
so uh perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Well, I guess that breaks us to you our questions. Sure,
Turkish delight, what is it?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Well?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Turkish delight, also called lookum, is a type of soft
jelly candy that can come in any number of flavors
and like combinations with other confectionery items, but at its simplest,
you're looking at a bite sized flavored gel candy that's
sort of bouncy or slightly chewy or like tender gummy
in texture and very sweet, usually with a coating of
(02:43):
powdered sugar and starch to prevent the separate pieces from
sticking together in the box, or you know, whatever receptacle
they come in. The flavor might be rose water or
another floral, maybe vanilla, or citrus like orange or lemon,
or another fruit like pomegranate or bear of some kind.
The gel tends to be brightly colored, often with food coloring.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
But all of that is.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Just the tip of the Turkish delight iceberg. Because locum
can be studded or rolled in chopped nuts like mustachios
or almonds, or dried fruit like dates or coconut. It
can be layered with nougat and rolled up like a
little jelly roll. You can wrap it around a cream
filling or coated with chocolate if.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
You want to.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
It's often served as a snack or a dessert, especially
with like strong coffee or tea, and on special occasions,
each piece is just a sweet, squoshy little pillow. It's like,
you know how there's always some brand of stuffed animals
that becomes like a pop culture thing, you know, like
beanie babies or squish mollows or whatever it is at
(03:49):
the time, But like stuffed animals themselves are just incredibly
classic because they're just soft and nice. Yeah, locum is
like eating a hug with a fun stuffed animal.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I'm pillow pit partial myself.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Oh uh huh yeah yeah, but it is lovely, yeah right,
and there's it's just fun.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
There's nothing wrong fun, no, there is it?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
So uh yes, a Turkish delight is within the category
of like jelly or gummy type candies. So what you're
looking to do when you're making it is to figure
out a way to make sugar slightly chewy. And there
are a number of ways to do that, like sugar
just by itself, plus water can be cooked to it
(04:43):
to a soft chewy stage. But we're looking for a
gel here, which means that you're gonna want to add
something that'll glom onto water and form like a like
a soft scaffold kind of kind of thing within the mass.
And that something can be a starch like cornstarcher pectin
and or a protein like gelatin. Gelatin is controversial. Don't
(05:06):
come at me, people do use it. I'm sorry, I'm
like a little nervous. This is something that people have
opinions about, for sure, you know, we love strong opinions.
But also right, I'm not telling you, I'm just reporting
(05:28):
the facts. Okay, So to make crystallized sugar into a
chewy gel, you heat it with water or other liquid
until it dissolves, and then keep cooking it to simmer
out a bunch of the water and sugar.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
But by which I.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Mean soucrose here really likes being a crystal, so you
have to do this carefully. To prevent recrystallization. You can
add an already stable liquid sugar like corn starch, and
or add cream of tartar, which breaks soup grows down
into fruitose and glucose, which don't care as much about
being in crystal form. How much water you simmer out
(06:06):
during this process depends. I've read recipes for softball stage
and for hardball stage, which are candy making terms that
describe what the sugar will do when it cools down.
But in either case you wind up with this gel
instead of like a toffi or caramel sort of thing,
because that starch that you add will will hold on
to a bit of extra water dispersed evenly through the
(06:26):
sugar mixture. When you heat starch and water, it'll gelatinize,
forming a flexible matrix. The set on the final candy
can be anywhere from like pillowy, soft gummy like sort
of like a extra soft gum drop in texture to
more stretchy or chewy. People have opinions about which is
correct or preferable. Again, I'm not here to tell you
(06:51):
your Turkish delight business.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
No no no, no no no.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Flavorings can vary. A lot water or orange blossom water
are perhaps the most traditional. A lot of recipes do
call for some tart citrus juice like lemon or lime
in with the water as you're cooking down the sugar.
It'll provide a little bit of flavor and also help
prevent crystallization. You can use almost all fruit juice, though,
like maybe pomegranate or BlackBerry. You can use milk. You
(07:18):
can add flavoring like mint or coffee to the jel itself.
You can add flavoring to the powder coating, like maybe
cinnamon or cocoa. But once you get beyond the territory
of this is a soft gummy candy and into the
arena of this is a base for something more complicated.
People do all kinds of wild things, any fruit flavor,
(07:43):
you can imagine, any type of nuts, all kinds of
cream fillings or jams, or like soft chocolate, you know,
coat it in any dang thing you like, rice, crispies,
I don't know, crushed oreos, saffron, Okay, confusing but cool. Yeah,
Turkish delight can also be used as a filling in
(08:05):
chocolates or pastries. And yeah, it can be a simple
treat with coffee or a fancy gift or a snack
at celebrations. I understand that. I read that in some
Turkish funerary traditions, locum is served to mourners on specific
anniversaries of the loved one's death. I couldn't find much
(08:26):
more about it than that, so if you have any
experience with this, please write in. I know asking about
funerary traditions on a food show is a little weird,
but you know us that it's not that weird.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
No, and there are a lot of funerary traditions that
involve food. So oh of course, yeah, m hm, Well
what about the nutrition. Sugar is a treat? Treats are nice? Yes, yes, indeed,
we do have a couple numbers for you, we do.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Okay, So.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Turkish delight is not only from Turkey, but it's from
the wider surrounding area but there are laws in Turkey
about what canon cannot be called Turkish delight, and one
that I found very specific is that the moisture content
in locom can only be sixteen percent that otherwise it's
(09:20):
not locom. Wow, yeah, that is very specific. Well, it
can be under that, but it cannot be run that anyway. Okay,
sixteen percent. As of two thousand and one, locum made
up some ten percent of Turkey's confectionery industry, which amounted
to about forty two thousand tons.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Wow. Yeah, that's only ten percent.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
People like candy treats are nice.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
It's true, that's true. There has also this isn't there's
a number in here. There has been a wide scoping
music festival in Macedonia called Locomfest for a couple decades.
It was named after like the spirit of sharing cultures
and customs over a little bit of locom and some
(10:10):
coffee in like old marketplaces like it's held in an
Ottoman era, bizarre from like the fourteen hundreds. It was
in its seventeenth year in twenty twenty three, having hosted
some eighty bands over the years, but their website has
not been updated since then. So I do not know
the fate of Locomfest.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Once again, listeners, Yeah, if you know, please write it.
But yes, there is a very interesting history behind this street.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
There is, yes, and we are going to get into
that as soon as we get back from a quick
break forward from our sponsors.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. Okay.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
So the origins of Turkish delight are locum are hard
to pin down. Some believe that this sweet or something
very similar to it, was invented by Arabs the ninth
century CE. Others claim it wasn't until the eighteenth century
when it was invented. Others point to similar candies that
(11:19):
were being made in the Middle Ages.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Mysteries history.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, yeah, the predecessors of Turkish delight as we know
it today would have had a slightly different flavor and texture.
The sugar component would have been honey or a syrup
made from cooking down juice like grape or figs or mulberries,
and the starch would have been flour, So a little
bit of a different thing.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, which is always an issue when we try to
get to the bottom of these things. But there is
one big name that comes up when trying to get
to the bottom of the history of Turkish delight, and
that is Turkey's Hadja Bakir and I apologize if I'm
mispronouncing it, please write in let me know. Which was
(12:03):
a confectionery opened in seventeen seventy seven in modern day Istanbul.
It was the brainchild of a confectioner named Bakir, and
it specialized in locum and this treat was incredibly popular
and words spread throughout the Ottoman Empire. They were so
popular that Sultan Mahmoud the Second hired Baker to serve
(12:26):
as the palace as chief confectioner, a position that remained
in his family until nineteen twenty, when the Ottoman Empire
came to an end. By this point, they were already
exporting their products to other countries around the world, and
travelers from places like England would bring the treats back
home with them too, so they were really making a
name for themselves. The business remains in the family. You
(12:49):
can still read about them, and they claimed the recipe
hasn't changed since the addition of cornstarch to replace the
flower in the mid eighteen hundreds. That being said, it
is also more than possible another confectioner or confectioners working
in the Palace were the ones responsible for locum, and
Hadja Bikir was the first to export it, so they
(13:14):
were often viewed as the original creators because of that,
but you know how it goes, probably a lot of
people were involved.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Processed sugar started being used as it became more available
in the eighteen hundreds as well.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Yes, and these early versions were flavored with almonds, pistachios, musk,
and or rose oil.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Mastic was another flavoring that was used. It's a type
of tree resin with like a kind of piny cedery
sort of flavor.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
And while the ingredients were fairly simple, a recipe printed
in a journal in eighteen ninety four described the rather
arduous process of making it lots of very specific stirring
and specific directions that required two people to get the
right consistency, and perhaps because of that difficulty, Locum was
(14:06):
not really successfully replicated outside of Turkey for.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
A long time.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
That being said, jumping ahead a bit, in the nineteen twenties,
confectioners in the US began offering similar products to Locum
under a variety of names, and perhaps The most notable
example was applets, which was made with fresh apples, honey
and walnuts, and cutlets, which was the same but apricots
(14:34):
instead of apples. All right, so they were the product
of two Armenian immigrants, Arman Turtsegian and Mark Balaban. After
arriving in America, the two met at a YMCA in
Seattle and they decided to go into business together. They
tried a couple of things that didn't work out before
they purchased and orchard in Kashmir, Washington to use up
(14:58):
any extra fruit they had started making these candies. Both
had experience with locum from their childhoods in Armenia, but
they eventually realized they couldn't provide shelf stability and quality
control using the fresh off the orchard apples, so they
sold the orchards. They were intent on becoming the first
(15:21):
commercial producers of locum in the US, though they did
not give up this. Their product, especially the applets, gained
a lot of popularity and became a sought after tourist item.
In nineteen sixty two, the product was offered at the
Seattle's World Fair and that gave it even more popularity. Eventually,
(15:46):
they decreased the amount of rosewater they used and added
in some pectin. For a while they really avoided the
Turkish Delight label due to the tensions between Turkey and Armenia,
but they eventually decided to it. But when I looked
it up in their shop, you can still get applets
and cottlets and fruit delights, but you can also get
(16:10):
Turkish Delights. Yeah, they have a history on their website
if you want to check it out. It's really interesting.
And then yes, in nineteen fifty C. S. Lewis's The Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe introduced many people to Turkish Delight.
Many people who hadn't heard of it before didn't know
it right, perhaps Americans. Yes, yes, I think that is accurate.
(16:36):
And this was the candy that tempted Edmund Pevensey and
led him to betraying his siblings. Prior to the book's release,
the English apparently called the Sweet Lumps of Delight. In
either case, the book really made this candy sound like
it was the best thing ever.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Basically, this is what you want actually if you were
a kid.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
And there are a couple of reasons why Lewis chose
this treat to exemplify that. So the UK had been
importing Turkish lights since at least eighteen sixty one, and
it was so popular a treat that specialty stores started
popping up.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, the good stuff was generally imported and expensive.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yes, and during World War Two people would line up
for these treats.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
For candy in general, Yeah, sugar was already being rationed
early on in the war by the beginning of nineteen forty.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
After nineteen forty two, confectioneries were placed in the category
of items that needed both coupons and additional money to purchase.
Even with ration coupons, they were expensive. So because of this,
they became somewhat associated with Christmas as like a gift,
something people couldn't have all the time. And if you
(17:58):
remember from our fictional foods at episode, or perhaps your
own reading of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,
when we first encounter Nardia, it was always winter and
never Christmas. That story also took place during World War Two,
which is when Lewis himself was writing the book. So
it makes sense in a lot of ways that Turkish
(18:18):
delight was the suite that Lewis went with.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah, Honestly, like Edmund is being a total goober when
he asks the White Witch for it, specifically, because it's
not just like, hey can I have candy? It's like,
hey can I have like the fancy imported candy. To
be fair, he was having a rough time, But I like.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
This strong opinions about Edmund.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
It's fair.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
That's the entire point of the character is that he's
being a goober, and then he learns how to be
less Gooberriy, that's the whole that's the whole concept. It's
not it's yes Lewis's opinion mine.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
They should print that on the back of the book.
That should be a review.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
I remember seeing online and now I have no idea
if like, I don't think I just invented it whole cloth.
But I remember seeing on the internet a review for
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on like Amazon
or something, and some cranky old fellow being like, this
(19:30):
book is just chilling for Turkish delight. And I don't
even know what that is. I don't know if it
was made up or not.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
But that's so funny. Someone, if that's true, that someone
took the time to be like I have to say,
as a kid, When I read that book, I had
never heard of Turkish delight, and it sounded like it
did to me, sound like, this is the best thing ever.
(20:04):
I must get my hands on it. And I read
a lot of kind of funny articles where they had
a similar experience, and when they tried Turkish delights, the
quality we cannot say what it was, because I again
think I probably haven't had really good Turkish light.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
They're disappointed.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, it's also I do understand that rose water is
not a very common flavor that a lot of Americans
have encountered modernly, you know, like we that whole thing
where we really switched hard to vanilla sometime in the
eighteen hundreds. But yeah, it's you know, he just doesn't
like, like C. S. Lewis doesn't put a lot of description
(20:46):
into the book because it's kind of like, you know,
from his point of view, you don't really have to
describe it. It's just Turkish delight. It's something that everyone
is familiar with. But yeah, it's in this fancy box
and hears magically because the White Witch just kind of
summons it. And yeah, the only thing that he writes
is that each piece was sweet and light to the
(21:08):
very center and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
That's it. The imagination does wonder story.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
I mean, you gotta figure it.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I mean, you know it's you gotta figure it's good
because he's willing to sell out his family for more
Turkish delight.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Yeah, but I.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Think you're missing. I mean, that's missing the point that
it's enchanted. It's you know, right, it's not just the
Turkish delight, right, but especially it.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
As a kid who had never heard of it, and
you're like, oh, why can't I get this?
Speaker 4 (21:47):
What is this? Yeah? But you can.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Turkish Light is still going strong, a lot of story,
special life in it. The store we mentioned still going
and how's a really interesting history if you want to
look it up.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Uh yeah, yeah, and right in America that's Liberty Orchards, Yes,
that is yes. And then yeah, there are all kinds
of guides to all the best sweet shops around Istanbul
and beyond. If oh, if you ever have gotten a
chance to go, if you have a favorite like weird
(22:26):
cool flavor, if yes, one want to know all about it?
Speaker 4 (22:31):
We do.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
But that is what we have to say about Turkish.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Delight for now.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one more quick break for
a word from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, and we're back with listen.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
May Delight.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yes, speaking of Michael wrote and one of your recent
listener mails you were discussing hatch green chili and ask
for recipes. Here's a link to the way back machine
that has a copy of the now out of print
Coachina Day, New Mexico. This is a recipe book that
was put out by the Power Company of New Mexico
(23:28):
P and M. This book is what our family used
for years. It has the basis for some really good
green chili dishes and other local favorites. Okay, so listeners,
if you want to write in, if you if you
want the link, write in, we'll send it to you.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
But thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
We'd love we'd love recipes. We love books, yes, and
I love I love green chili.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
So I have some canned stuff.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
I know it's not as good as the real.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
Thing, but I do love it. I love it so much.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
A little bit little bit of a chili fanatic over here, yeah,
just a little bit. A listener who did not include
their name wrote, I thought i'd give you my family's
Irish soda bread recipe, adjusted by me for weight based
so that I can make it super quickly. Okay, So
two hundred and fifty grams of white flour, two hundred
(24:31):
and fifty grams of whole meal flour, one and a
half teaspoons of salt, one and a half teaspoons of
bicarbonate of soda, four hundred and fifty grams of buttermilk.
Preheat oven to two hundred celsius. I'm not going to
do that translation for you. Sorry, not sorry, And line
a dust pan with flour. Sift to the flowers, the
salt and the soda. Add the buttermilk and mix with
a spoon until it's come together. Tip onto a surface,
(24:54):
bring into a ball, Put onto a tray, and with
a flowered long sharp knife, cut across on the top
of the dough about three centimeters deep. Bake for twenty
to thirty five minutes until the loaf sounds hollow when
tapped underneath. Transferred to a wire rackt to cool completely
before serving. I love it with butter and marmalade.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Thank you so much. Again.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
We love recipes and this sounds very simple, like possibly
I won't mess it up. That's the whole point of
this bread Annie, Yes, I know, but I yeah, just
sounds super easy. And I do love like the insider
(25:39):
tips of you know, tapping on the just tap it
and see if it sounds hollow or things like that. Yeah,
I just love these sort of things we pass along
to people. My friend has one with watermelon when she's like,
if you look for the yellow spot and if you
tap it, it sounds like this, that's a good water.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Okay, yeah, yeah, no, that's absolutely still haven't still haven't
done any baking yet.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
We're falling down, Lord, we are. We need to catch up.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Our feast is ever increasing.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
That feast is gonna kill us.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
It's gonna have to be like a month long event,
savor fest feast something like that.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Well, thank you so much to both of these listeners
for writing in. If you would like to write shows,
you can. Our email is hello at saberpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
blue Sky and Instagram at saver pod and we do
hope to hear from you. Savor Is production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers
Dylan Pagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening.
Can we hope that lots more good things are coming
(26:59):
your way
Hell loa and welcome to Savor production of iHeart Radio.
I'm Annie Reese and I'm.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Lauren Vogel Bam, and today we have an episode for
you about Turkish delight.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Yes, was there any particular reason this was on your mind?
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Lauren?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Well ed?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Alpha tyre was this past weekend. It's a holiday celebrating
the end in the breaking of the fast of the
holy month of Ramadan. And it's a family and community holiday,
you know, like people dress up nice kids especially might
get gifts. There's feasting and a lot of treats, and
you know, of course there are all kinds of traditions
and cuisines attached to eat all around the world. But
(00:44):
a treat that I saw come up pretty often was
Turkish delight, and I've been wanting to do an episode
about it.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So here we are, Here we are. Yes, I don't
have too much experience with Turkish delight. I think I've
had some none of it. I think has been the
good stuff, shall we say?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh okay, yeah, I haven't had the fancy kinds, but
just the plain old like like rosewater jelly cubes type
is actually one of my favorite things. And I know
that that makes like I've seen a lot of There
have been many words spoken about how terrible Turkish delight
(01:25):
is on the internet. I think mostly from people who
didn't know what it was when they read Lion, the Witch,
and the Wardrobe and were imagining chocolate.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
And but I really like rose water.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yes, which, speaking of you can see our fictional foods
episode that we did on Chronicles of Narnia where we
did talk about this.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Or our rosewater episode maybe like marshmallow vaguely related?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Sure, yeah, cream of Tartar an episode of that I
definitely did.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yes, Oh yes, I consulted my notes for that in here,
so uh perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Well, I guess that breaks us to you our questions. Sure,
Turkish delight, what is it?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Well?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Turkish delight, also called lookum, is a type of soft
jelly candy that can come in any number of flavors
and like combinations with other confectionery items, but at its simplest,
you're looking at a bite sized flavored gel candy that's
sort of bouncy or slightly chewy or like tender gummy
in texture and very sweet, usually with a coating of
(02:43):
powdered sugar and starch to prevent the separate pieces from
sticking together in the box, or you know, whatever receptacle
they come in. The flavor might be rose water or
another floral, maybe vanilla, or citrus like orange or lemon,
or another fruit like pomegranate or bear of some kind.
The gel tends to be brightly colored, often with food coloring.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
But all of that is.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Just the tip of the Turkish delight iceberg. Because locum
can be studded or rolled in chopped nuts like mustachios
or almonds, or dried fruit like dates or coconut. It
can be layered with nougat and rolled up like a
little jelly roll. You can wrap it around a cream
filling or coated with chocolate if.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
You want to.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
It's often served as a snack or a dessert, especially
with like strong coffee or tea, and on special occasions,
each piece is just a sweet, squoshy little pillow. It's like,
you know how there's always some brand of stuffed animals
that becomes like a pop culture thing, you know, like
beanie babies or squish mollows or whatever it is at
(03:49):
the time, But like stuffed animals themselves are just incredibly
classic because they're just soft and nice. Yeah, locum is
like eating a hug with a fun stuffed animal.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I'm pillow pit partial myself.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Oh uh huh yeah yeah, but it is lovely, yeah right,
and there's it's just fun.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
There's nothing wrong fun, no, there is it?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
So uh yes, a Turkish delight is within the category
of like jelly or gummy type candies. So what you're
looking to do when you're making it is to figure
out a way to make sugar slightly chewy. And there
are a number of ways to do that, like sugar
just by itself, plus water can be cooked to it
(04:43):
to a soft chewy stage. But we're looking for a
gel here, which means that you're gonna want to add
something that'll glom onto water and form like a like
a soft scaffold kind of kind of thing within the mass.
And that something can be a starch like cornstarcher pectin
and or a protein like gelatin. Gelatin is controversial. Don't
(05:06):
come at me, people do use it. I'm sorry, I'm
like a little nervous. This is something that people have
opinions about, for sure, you know, we love strong opinions.
But also right, I'm not telling you, I'm just reporting
(05:28):
the facts. Okay, So to make crystallized sugar into a
chewy gel, you heat it with water or other liquid
until it dissolves, and then keep cooking it to simmer
out a bunch of the water and sugar.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
But by which I.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Mean soucrose here really likes being a crystal, so you
have to do this carefully. To prevent recrystallization. You can
add an already stable liquid sugar like corn starch, and
or add cream of tartar, which breaks soup grows down
into fruitose and glucose, which don't care as much about
being in crystal form. How much water you simmer out
(06:06):
during this process depends. I've read recipes for softball stage
and for hardball stage, which are candy making terms that
describe what the sugar will do when it cools down.
But in either case you wind up with this gel
instead of like a toffi or caramel sort of thing,
because that starch that you add will will hold on
to a bit of extra water dispersed evenly through the
(06:26):
sugar mixture. When you heat starch and water, it'll gelatinize,
forming a flexible matrix. The set on the final candy
can be anywhere from like pillowy, soft gummy like sort
of like a extra soft gum drop in texture to
more stretchy or chewy. People have opinions about which is
correct or preferable. Again, I'm not here to tell you
(06:51):
your Turkish delight business.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
No no no, no no no.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Flavorings can vary. A lot water or orange blossom water
are perhaps the most traditional. A lot of recipes do
call for some tart citrus juice like lemon or lime
in with the water as you're cooking down the sugar.
It'll provide a little bit of flavor and also help
prevent crystallization. You can use almost all fruit juice, though,
like maybe pomegranate or BlackBerry. You can use milk. You
(07:18):
can add flavoring like mint or coffee to the jel itself.
You can add flavoring to the powder coating, like maybe
cinnamon or cocoa. But once you get beyond the territory
of this is a soft gummy candy and into the
arena of this is a base for something more complicated.
People do all kinds of wild things, any fruit flavor,
(07:43):
you can imagine, any type of nuts, all kinds of
cream fillings or jams, or like soft chocolate, you know,
coat it in any dang thing you like, rice, crispies,
I don't know, crushed oreos, saffron, Okay, confusing but cool. Yeah,
Turkish delight can also be used as a filling in
(08:05):
chocolates or pastries. And yeah, it can be a simple
treat with coffee or a fancy gift or a snack
at celebrations. I understand that. I read that in some
Turkish funerary traditions, locum is served to mourners on specific
anniversaries of the loved one's death. I couldn't find much
(08:26):
more about it than that, so if you have any
experience with this, please write in. I know asking about
funerary traditions on a food show is a little weird,
but you know us that it's not that weird.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
No, and there are a lot of funerary traditions that
involve food. So oh of course, yeah, m hm, Well
what about the nutrition. Sugar is a treat? Treats are nice? Yes, yes, indeed,
we do have a couple numbers for you, we do.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Okay, So.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Turkish delight is not only from Turkey, but it's from
the wider surrounding area but there are laws in Turkey
about what canon cannot be called Turkish delight, and one
that I found very specific is that the moisture content
in locom can only be sixteen percent that otherwise it's
(09:20):
not locom. Wow, yeah, that is very specific. Well, it
can be under that, but it cannot be run that anyway. Okay,
sixteen percent. As of two thousand and one, locum made
up some ten percent of Turkey's confectionery industry, which amounted
to about forty two thousand tons.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Wow. Yeah, that's only ten percent.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
People like candy treats are nice.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
It's true, that's true. There has also this isn't there's
a number in here. There has been a wide scoping
music festival in Macedonia called Locomfest for a couple decades.
It was named after like the spirit of sharing cultures
and customs over a little bit of locom and some
(10:10):
coffee in like old marketplaces like it's held in an
Ottoman era, bizarre from like the fourteen hundreds. It was
in its seventeenth year in twenty twenty three, having hosted
some eighty bands over the years, but their website has
not been updated since then. So I do not know
the fate of Locomfest.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Once again, listeners, Yeah, if you know, please write it.
But yes, there is a very interesting history behind this street.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
There is, yes, and we are going to get into
that as soon as we get back from a quick
break forward from our sponsors.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. Okay.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
So the origins of Turkish delight are locum are hard
to pin down. Some believe that this sweet or something
very similar to it, was invented by Arabs the ninth
century CE. Others claim it wasn't until the eighteenth century
when it was invented. Others point to similar candies that
(11:19):
were being made in the Middle Ages.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Mysteries history.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, yeah, the predecessors of Turkish delight as we know
it today would have had a slightly different flavor and texture.
The sugar component would have been honey or a syrup
made from cooking down juice like grape or figs or mulberries,
and the starch would have been flour, So a little
bit of a different thing.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, which is always an issue when we try to
get to the bottom of these things. But there is
one big name that comes up when trying to get
to the bottom of the history of Turkish delight, and
that is Turkey's Hadja Bakir and I apologize if I'm
mispronouncing it, please write in let me know. Which was
(12:03):
a confectionery opened in seventeen seventy seven in modern day Istanbul.
It was the brainchild of a confectioner named Bakir, and
it specialized in locum and this treat was incredibly popular
and words spread throughout the Ottoman Empire. They were so
popular that Sultan Mahmoud the Second hired Baker to serve
(12:26):
as the palace as chief confectioner, a position that remained
in his family until nineteen twenty, when the Ottoman Empire
came to an end. By this point, they were already
exporting their products to other countries around the world, and
travelers from places like England would bring the treats back
home with them too, so they were really making a
name for themselves. The business remains in the family. You
(12:49):
can still read about them, and they claimed the recipe
hasn't changed since the addition of cornstarch to replace the
flower in the mid eighteen hundreds. That being said, it
is also more than possible another confectioner or confectioners working
in the Palace were the ones responsible for locum, and
Hadja Bikir was the first to export it, so they
(13:14):
were often viewed as the original creators because of that,
but you know how it goes, probably a lot of
people were involved.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Processed sugar started being used as it became more available
in the eighteen hundreds as well.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Yes, and these early versions were flavored with almonds, pistachios, musk,
and or rose oil.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Mastic was another flavoring that was used. It's a type
of tree resin with like a kind of piny cedery
sort of flavor.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
And while the ingredients were fairly simple, a recipe printed
in a journal in eighteen ninety four described the rather
arduous process of making it lots of very specific stirring
and specific directions that required two people to get the
right consistency, and perhaps because of that difficulty, Locum was
(14:06):
not really successfully replicated outside of Turkey for.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
A long time.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
That being said, jumping ahead a bit, in the nineteen twenties,
confectioners in the US began offering similar products to Locum
under a variety of names, and perhaps The most notable
example was applets, which was made with fresh apples, honey
and walnuts, and cutlets, which was the same but apricots
(14:34):
instead of apples. All right, so they were the product
of two Armenian immigrants, Arman Turtsegian and Mark Balaban. After
arriving in America, the two met at a YMCA in
Seattle and they decided to go into business together. They
tried a couple of things that didn't work out before
they purchased and orchard in Kashmir, Washington to use up
(14:58):
any extra fruit they had started making these candies. Both
had experience with locum from their childhoods in Armenia, but
they eventually realized they couldn't provide shelf stability and quality
control using the fresh off the orchard apples, so they
sold the orchards. They were intent on becoming the first
(15:21):
commercial producers of locum in the US, though they did
not give up this. Their product, especially the applets, gained
a lot of popularity and became a sought after tourist item.
In nineteen sixty two, the product was offered at the
Seattle's World Fair and that gave it even more popularity. Eventually,
(15:46):
they decreased the amount of rosewater they used and added
in some pectin. For a while they really avoided the
Turkish Delight label due to the tensions between Turkey and Armenia,
but they eventually decided to it. But when I looked
it up in their shop, you can still get applets
and cottlets and fruit delights, but you can also get
(16:10):
Turkish Delights. Yeah, they have a history on their website
if you want to check it out. It's really interesting.
And then yes, in nineteen fifty C. S. Lewis's The Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe introduced many people to Turkish Delight.
Many people who hadn't heard of it before didn't know
it right, perhaps Americans. Yes, yes, I think that is accurate.
(16:36):
And this was the candy that tempted Edmund Pevensey and
led him to betraying his siblings. Prior to the book's release,
the English apparently called the Sweet Lumps of Delight. In
either case, the book really made this candy sound like
it was the best thing ever.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Basically, this is what you want actually if you were
a kid.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
And there are a couple of reasons why Lewis chose
this treat to exemplify that. So the UK had been
importing Turkish lights since at least eighteen sixty one, and
it was so popular a treat that specialty stores started
popping up.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, the good stuff was generally imported and expensive.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yes, and during World War Two people would line up
for these treats.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
For candy in general, Yeah, sugar was already being rationed
early on in the war by the beginning of nineteen forty.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
After nineteen forty two, confectioneries were placed in the category
of items that needed both coupons and additional money to purchase.
Even with ration coupons, they were expensive. So because of this,
they became somewhat associated with Christmas as like a gift,
something people couldn't have all the time. And if you
(17:58):
remember from our fictional foods at episode, or perhaps your
own reading of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,
when we first encounter Nardia, it was always winter and
never Christmas. That story also took place during World War Two,
which is when Lewis himself was writing the book. So
it makes sense in a lot of ways that Turkish
(18:18):
delight was the suite that Lewis went with.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah, Honestly, like Edmund is being a total goober when
he asks the White Witch for it, specifically, because it's
not just like, hey can I have candy? It's like,
hey can I have like the fancy imported candy. To
be fair, he was having a rough time, But I like.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
This strong opinions about Edmund.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
It's fair.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
That's the entire point of the character is that he's
being a goober, and then he learns how to be
less Gooberriy, that's the whole that's the whole concept. It's
not it's yes Lewis's opinion mine.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
They should print that on the back of the book.
That should be a review.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
I remember seeing online and now I have no idea
if like, I don't think I just invented it whole cloth.
But I remember seeing on the internet a review for
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on like Amazon
or something, and some cranky old fellow being like, this
(19:30):
book is just chilling for Turkish delight. And I don't
even know what that is. I don't know if it
was made up or not.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
But that's so funny. Someone, if that's true, that someone
took the time to be like I have to say,
as a kid, When I read that book, I had
never heard of Turkish delight, and it sounded like it
did to me, sound like, this is the best thing ever.
(20:04):
I must get my hands on it. And I read
a lot of kind of funny articles where they had
a similar experience, and when they tried Turkish delights, the
quality we cannot say what it was, because I again
think I probably haven't had really good Turkish light.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
They're disappointed.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, it's also I do understand that rose water is
not a very common flavor that a lot of Americans
have encountered modernly, you know, like we that whole thing
where we really switched hard to vanilla sometime in the
eighteen hundreds. But yeah, it's you know, he just doesn't
like, like C. S. Lewis doesn't put a lot of description
(20:46):
into the book because it's kind of like, you know,
from his point of view, you don't really have to
describe it. It's just Turkish delight. It's something that everyone
is familiar with. But yeah, it's in this fancy box
and hears magically because the White Witch just kind of
summons it. And yeah, the only thing that he writes
is that each piece was sweet and light to the
(21:08):
very center and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
That's it. The imagination does wonder story.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
I mean, you gotta figure it.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I mean, you know it's you gotta figure it's good
because he's willing to sell out his family for more
Turkish delight.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Yeah, but I.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Think you're missing. I mean, that's missing the point that
it's enchanted. It's you know, right, it's not just the
Turkish delight, right, but especially it.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
As a kid who had never heard of it, and
you're like, oh, why can't I get this?
Speaker 4 (21:47):
What is this? Yeah? But you can.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Turkish Light is still going strong, a lot of story,
special life in it. The store we mentioned still going
and how's a really interesting history if you want to
look it up.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Uh yeah, yeah, and right in America that's Liberty Orchards, Yes,
that is yes. And then yeah, there are all kinds
of guides to all the best sweet shops around Istanbul
and beyond. If oh, if you ever have gotten a
chance to go, if you have a favorite like weird
(22:26):
cool flavor, if yes, one want to know all about it?
Speaker 4 (22:31):
We do.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
But that is what we have to say about Turkish.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Delight for now.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one more quick break for
a word from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, and we're back with listen.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
May Delight.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yes, speaking of Michael wrote and one of your recent
listener mails you were discussing hatch green chili and ask
for recipes. Here's a link to the way back machine
that has a copy of the now out of print
Coachina Day, New Mexico. This is a recipe book that
was put out by the Power Company of New Mexico
(23:28):
P and M. This book is what our family used
for years. It has the basis for some really good
green chili dishes and other local favorites. Okay, so listeners,
if you want to write in, if you if you
want the link, write in, we'll send it to you.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
But thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
We'd love we'd love recipes. We love books, yes, and
I love I love green chili.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
So I have some canned stuff.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
I know it's not as good as the real.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
Thing, but I do love it. I love it so much.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
A little bit little bit of a chili fanatic over here, yeah,
just a little bit. A listener who did not include
their name wrote, I thought i'd give you my family's
Irish soda bread recipe, adjusted by me for weight based
so that I can make it super quickly. Okay, So
two hundred and fifty grams of white flour, two hundred
(24:31):
and fifty grams of whole meal flour, one and a
half teaspoons of salt, one and a half teaspoons of
bicarbonate of soda, four hundred and fifty grams of buttermilk.
Preheat oven to two hundred celsius. I'm not going to
do that translation for you. Sorry, not sorry, And line
a dust pan with flour. Sift to the flowers, the
salt and the soda. Add the buttermilk and mix with
a spoon until it's come together. Tip onto a surface,
(24:54):
bring into a ball, Put onto a tray, and with
a flowered long sharp knife, cut across on the top
of the dough about three centimeters deep. Bake for twenty
to thirty five minutes until the loaf sounds hollow when
tapped underneath. Transferred to a wire rackt to cool completely
before serving. I love it with butter and marmalade.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Thank you so much. Again.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
We love recipes and this sounds very simple, like possibly
I won't mess it up. That's the whole point of
this bread Annie, Yes, I know, but I yeah, just
sounds super easy. And I do love like the insider
(25:39):
tips of you know, tapping on the just tap it
and see if it sounds hollow or things like that. Yeah,
I just love these sort of things we pass along
to people. My friend has one with watermelon when she's like,
if you look for the yellow spot and if you
tap it, it sounds like this, that's a good water.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Okay, yeah, yeah, no, that's absolutely still haven't still haven't
done any baking yet.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
We're falling down, Lord, we are. We need to catch up.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Our feast is ever increasing.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
That feast is gonna kill us.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
It's gonna have to be like a month long event,
savor fest feast something like that.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Well, thank you so much to both of these listeners
for writing in. If you would like to write shows,
you can. Our email is hello at saberpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
blue Sky and Instagram at saver pod and we do
hope to hear from you. Savor Is production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers
Dylan Pagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening.
Can we hope that lots more good things are coming
(26:59):
your way
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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