He used starch and refined sugar to make the delight which is the current condition of lokum. The reason is that Haci Bekir Efendi made the lokum by a new technique. So, traditional Turkish delight is identified with “Haci Bekir Turkish Delight”. According to many resources, the inventor of the delight has been pointed as Sekercibasi Muhittin Haci Bekir Efendi. In the beginning, honey and pekmez (concentrated grape syrup) were used as sweeteners and flour was used as a stabilizer. So, people in Anatolia are in love with dessert from the 15th century. It is mostly thought that lokum comes from “Rahat-ul hukum” which means relieving throat. Lokum or Turkish delight is inherited from kitchens of the Anatolian Seljuk Empire and the Ottoman Empire. So, what is Turkish delight? And how did it come to be known as such globally? Putting aside all the puns and semantics and delving into the real history of Turkish delight reveals an intriguing story of how this simple, yet delightful recipe managed to capture hearts and sweet-tooth’s all over the world. Nor does it do justice for the national treasure which has now almost become part of the Turkish identity outside of Turkey, synonymous with anything good to come out of Turkey. But let’s be honest, in our day and age of food awareness where we are constantly reminded of what exactly goes into the making of our foods and its journey to our plates, that’s not much of an accurate description. Often adding “I like the rose and lemon Turkish delights” to their vague description of the delightful candy having been acquainted already. Most people do recognise “Turkish delight”, have an idea of what it is and can at the very least describe it along the lines of “those little-sweet-fragrant-soft candy things from Narnia“. What is Turkish Delight? Some of you may be thinking “surely everyone knows what Turkish delight is!” Right? Well, yes you are right. 1.6 Where to buy Turkish Delight in Istanbul? Introduction