- Sugar, water and starch, boiled to a gel
- Flavours: rose, mastic, lemon, pomegranate
- Pistachio, hazelnut or walnut centres; powdered sugar coating
Lokum (Turkish Delight)
Mint lokum (Turkish delight). Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Lokum is the starch-and-sugar confection the world knows as Turkish delight: soft cubes dusted with powdered sugar, flavoured with rose, mastic, lemon or pomegranate, and studded with pistachio, hazelnut or walnut.
Hacı Bekir, founded in Istanbul in 1777, claims to be its inventor and still sells it from the same Eminönü shop. The Spice Bazaar quarter is the place to taste widely before buying.
Key ingredients
Where to try it
- Hacı Bekir's 1777 shop in Eminönü, Istanbul.
- The Spice Bazaar quarter for tasting and buying.
- Eaten with Turkish coffee; the pairing is traditional.