Turkish Delights

Sweet Things

Appears in

Published 2015

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Turkish delight – this is how we describe the famous iokum, soft little cubes of flavoured sugar that have become symbols of Turkey. Yet there is a much larger family of sweets, biscuits and wonderful treats that are eaten for dessert or with afternoon tea, to welcome the unexpected guest or just for the pleasure of it: from the ultra familiar (baklava) to the more obscure (yağli simit or irmik revani), and more recent creations dreamed up by the young minds of Istanbulite cuisine.

Whether milk, fruit or flour-based desserts, most can be made – and are made – at home. Some recipes are reserved for the experts, such as helva (a sweet confection based on sesame paste) or Turkish delight. All of them are found on the menu of the large patisseries, with their gilt windows displaying pyramids and tray after tray of pastries and other temptations. These are open late into the evening and are always full of people enjoying a tea or coffee – and a very sweet something.