Have you ever had Turkish Delight? I haven’t and from the description will not. My doctor would shoot me if I endulged. So I can take this off my bucket list.
No, but I have had aplets a9d cotlets, (http://www.libertyorchards.com/category/Aplets_and_Cotlets)
which sound similar. I didn’t care for them, but I DID love the outrageously-expensive fruit gels, dusted with powdered sugar, that I bought once during a NYC trip to the since-shuttered Park Avenue location of Fauchon.
I read that article and well remember the same crushing disappointment when I first tried Turkish delight. However, as an adult I have had it in Turkey, and the good stuff is much better. It’s not sickeningly sweet and has a nice firmness. Still will never be my favorite, but I was perfectly willing to eat the kind I had in Turkey vs. the ones I tried here.
Yes, I’ve had it.
We visit Cyprus regularly and stay near to the village, Geroskipou, which is the centre of production in the south of the island. Perhaps unsurprisingly, since the invasion and occupation in 1974, they now prefer to call it “Cypriot Delight”, rather than “Turkish”. You’ll also see it sold under the Greek name of loukoumia. Loukoumia Geroskipou has a European Union PGI status.
And, no, I’m not that keen at it.
I first had cotlets from Liberty Orchards close to 30 years ago and I loved them; didn’t care for the aplets that much - it’s about apricots. My mother had made a cookie she called a cotlet for years which were one of my favorites; can’t remember if they were dusted with powdered sugar or not.
Along the way I’ve had some very bad lokum but an ambitious Turkish grocery store opened about a mile and a half from me a couple of years ago and I bought some of the good stuff. It’s rather expensive but I always got some when I went in. Unfortunately the store didn’t last and I have to drive much further to a specialty store that carries it so it’s only a some-time treat.
Lokum is like fruitcake - you’ve got to get some of the good stuff or it’s not appealing at all.
I like the perspective offered by the author in the last paragraph.
I quite enjoy Turkish Delight if it quality stuff. Relatives passing through the airport in Istanbul bought me some as a present, very flowery and delicately plump, and dusted in powered sugar. I like them with tea, but they are so sweet, I can only eat one at a time.
But I think whether or not one likes particular sweets really depends on what you are used to as a child, and then your palate develops from there. I’ve had Indian and Japanese sweets, and I can’t get used to them. Many people are really disappointed in Italian desserts except those from Piemonte (near France) or from Sicily and Napoli, which had a royal tradition and some French influence. Americans rail against Sacher Torte (which I love) because it isn’t what they expect from cake. I’ve often wondered if you could sell many popular British treats in the US – things like Jaffa cakes.
