4 ms·

An offbeat topic to challenge my mind. My first experience with Turkish delight was a commercial product in a gold foil wrapper and a purple label (I don't kno

An offbeat topic to challenge my mind. My first experience with Turkish delight was a commercial product in a gold foil wrapper and a purple label (I don't know if it was fry's or not - it was in similar wrapping to the old kitkat - 1/2 paper, 1/2 foil). It was covered in chocolate with a centre that was chewy like a slightly softened beef jerky. It had a fragrant flavour that reminded me of perfume, but it was a resounding yuk. In later years, I came across a gelatinous pink treat covered in a white powder - the texture was about as squishy as jelly. There was a more subtle taste and it was delicious. I never remember associating Turkish delight with Narnia. But, I remember associating gold foil wrappers with willy wonka.

ashark 11y ago
My experience has been the worse the packaging, the better the Turkish delight. Ideally it'll look like something someone threw together in their home kitchen.
coldtea 11y ago
If the first was "covered in chocolate" it was decidedly not a turkish delight, but some mass market abomination of such. The second sounds much closer to actual turkish delights. (Which are not just turkish, but all over the arab world + balkans, greece etc. Some of the best are said to be made in the middle east).
- emmelaich 11y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Turkish_Delight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Turkish_Delight An abomination it maybe, but it's still delicious. We get it branded by Cadbury in Australia. The real thing is not hard to get in major cities.
  - coldtea 11y ago
    Yeah, the "Fry's" + packaging kind of gives the name away that it's not an actual turkish delight.
    - emmelaich 11y ago
      But the filling is pretty genuine tasting. Not rose water or other traditional flavour but then there's really not much to Turkish delight. Gelatine and sugar mostly.
- takhn 11y ago
  Frys is absolutely vile and has nothing much apart from rosewater in common with actual Turkish delight. It was likely the only thing called Turkish delight you'd have found in 1940s England though, so it's probably what was being referenced in the book
corny 11y ago
This sounds similar to Big Turk (by Nestle, Canada). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Turk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Turk
david-given 11y ago
This is Fry's Turkish Delight, a classic British sweet (although it's been a while since I've seen it): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Turkish_Delight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Turkish_Delight The centre is flavoured with rosewater, which is what makes it a bit odd to western tastes. Turkish Delight (proper Turkish Delight) can be flavoured with all sorts of different things. Rosewater is traditional, but I prefer lemon or orange. I've seen it with nuts. Fun fact: proper Turkish Delight is vegetarian!

ashark 11y ago

My experience has been the worse the packaging, the better the Turkish delight. Ideally it'll look like something someone threw together in their home kitchen.

coldtea 11y ago

If the first was "covered in chocolate" it was decidedly not a turkish delight, but some mass market abomination of such. The second sounds much closer to actual turkish delights. (Which are not just turkish, but all over the arab world + balkans, greece etc. Some of the best are said to be made in the middle east).

emmelaich 11y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Turkish_Delight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Turkish_Delight An abomination it maybe, but it's still delicious. We get it branded by Cadbury in Australia. The real thing is not hard to get in major cities.
- coldtea 11y ago
  Yeah, the "Fry's" + packaging kind of gives the name away that it's not an actual turkish delight.
  - emmelaich 11y ago
    But the filling is pretty genuine tasting. Not rose water or other traditional flavour but then there's really not much to Turkish delight. Gelatine and sugar mostly.
takhn 11y ago
Frys is absolutely vile and has nothing much apart from rosewater in common with actual Turkish delight. It was likely the only thing called Turkish delight you'd have found in 1940s England though, so it's probably what was being referenced in the book

corny 11y ago

This sounds similar to Big Turk (by Nestle, Canada). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Turk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Turk

david-given 11y ago

This is Fry's Turkish Delight, a classic British sweet (although it's been a while since I've seen it): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Turkish_Delight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Turkish_Delight The centre is flavoured with rosewater, which is what makes it a bit odd to western tastes. Turkish Delight (proper Turkish Delight) can be flavoured with all sorts of different things. Rosewater is traditional, but I prefer lemon or orange. I've seen it with nuts. Fun fact: proper Turkish Delight is vegetarian!