Malena loves candy. And travel. And both together. And thus, this site was born.
by 
In Turkey, I spent a lot of time eating Turkish Delight, talking about Turkish Delight, trying to find Turkish Delight factories, and watching people make Turkish Delight. Prior to my first visit to Turkey, I actually had no idea what this substance even was - except that the White Witch used it to lure Edmund into her clutches in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe! In Turkey in its most common form, it’s simply a gummy substance formed of starch, sugar or honey, and flavoring (typically pistachio, rose, or walnut.) However, recently lokum (as it is known in Turkish) has also been made with cream, giving it a whitish, opaque look and a milkier feel.
Turkish Delight Team
I also went to a factory in Afyon where I could sample the incredibly fresh cream-based Turkish delight. It’s pictured above, and literally dripped off of the carving knife. Chocolate filling was used, and I tried cherry, banana, and the more traditional pistachio, peanut, and walnut flavors. Those who know my tasting habits may guess (correctly!) that cherry was my favorite flavor! While adding cream definitely dilutes the gummy texture, I preferred it - it also tempered the flavor and made it gooier. Yum!
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Turkish Delight
I’m quite behind on this blog, but I have a lot of stories from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Egypt. So many countries still to write about! Whether angering Israeli soldiers, chasing away a bottom-grabber in Cairo, or celebrating Thanksgiving with a chicken stuffed with falafel, hopefully the next few weeks will keep everyone back home entertained.
Midway through December I hope to head to India, so if anyone has suggestions for what to see and do, and what candy to try, let me know!
posting from United StatesNovember 30th, 2008 1:22 pm
omg congratulations on law school! culture, cuisine, technology, government, society, … you crazy renaissance woman, you! 
awesome.
posting from United StatesNovember 30th, 2008 1:34 pm
congrats on harvard! so jealous of all your travels, but i’ll just continue to live vicariously through you.
posting from Great Britain (UK)November 30th, 2008 3:16 pm
Great article about my favourite sweet thing in the world…I adore turkish delight, especially the Rose variety. I’ve never heard of the cream variety though, think I may need another visit to Turkey to check it out.
posting from United StatesNovember 30th, 2008 5:34 pm
Hey, congrats on law school, Malena! Fantastic! And - this Turkish Delight that you write of sounds so delicious. My first exposure to it was also from Edmund and the White Queen. I’ve had it once - and enjoyed it - but to be there, at the factory tasting it fresh - must have been amazing! Have a continually wonderful trip!
Love, Auntie Quita
posting from Korea (South)December 1st, 2008 3:38 am
mmm…that first picture looks wonderful!
posting from United StatesDecember 1st, 2008 2:19 pm
LOL….Everytime I hear Turkish Delight, I immedietly think of Edmund too. Since I was very small, I figured I had better try some since it managed to make Edmund betry his whole family for it. Granted it was enchanted but still. Congrats on Law School!
posting from Hong KongDecember 1st, 2008 11:28 pm
What a fun thing to do. Eat your way around the world. Love it.
posting from United StatesDecember 2nd, 2008 12:13 am
Yuck. Turkish Delight is awful. But I like your post. :-]
posting from United StatesDecember 2nd, 2008 4:04 pm
Malena
I hope you got better guesses for your contest than your dad and I came up with. Over Thanksgiving everyone tried the candy that you sent for my sponsorship. It was fun to see how different sugar can taste!
Love,
Mom
posting from EgyptDecember 5th, 2008 3:15 am
Thanks for the comments and congratulations everyone! Whew, I’ll try and reply to them all
Ramsey - Thanks for the congrats and I’ll definitely take advantage of your close location next year. Turkish Delight is definitely best fresh, especially the cream flavor. Mmm.
Geoff - The cream kind was also new to me, even though I visited just a few years ago. Supposedly you can also get it in mainland Europe, but I have no idea where to look.
Quita - As I’ve mentioned, definitely best fresh
wendy rose - It was delicious! Yum.
Lissa - Yeah, I like TD but I wouldn’t say as much as Edmund…
brian - Thanks for the comment! Glad to see you’re reading.
Mom - Well, everyone performed equally miserable so I’m trying to decide how to hand out rewards for the contest Glad you liked the sponsorship, it was great fun tasting my way around Europe!
posting from United StatesDecember 5th, 2008 8:07 am
Congratulations on your law school admission and I hope you will still have time for your blog when you’re deep into the books! The creamy delight looks wonderful!
posting from United StatesApril 22nd, 2011 7:46 am
Hi Malena, this is Paul I’m working on an alternative turkish delight recipe and i was keep wondering about that white opaque color. i didn’t know that was cream. is there any possibility you can give me a bit more info on that, such as what kind of cream, and in what phase they are adding it to mixture and what is the quantity…
think about it like a crime investigation…these are similar questions that you might come accross in your law journey…
all the best, paul
posting from United StatesMay 17th, 2011 3:22 pm
Hi Paul - Unfortunately I didn’t get any information on how that kind of turkish delight was made. I have a friend who is spending this summer in Istanbul and I will see if she can get any more information!
November 30th, 2008 12:38 pm
I love Turkish Delight. Never knew what it was either until a friend (who’s Dad is a Brit) introduced it to me. Yum. It must be really good fresh!
Mike says and I second that, Congrats on Law School. If you need a VT vacation come see us sometime!
Can’t wait to hear about the last couple months.