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C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

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Re: C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

#91

Post by toyg »

barrkel wrote: post #9

I still like Fry's Turkish Delight (made by Cadbury). The combination of thin chocolate covering to the weight and almost chewy mouthfeel of the rose-flavoured gel works well - it makes what chocolate there is more unctuous. The weight of it is part of what sells it for me, even though I expect it's mostly water captured in the gel. Actual sugar-dusted Turkish Delight cubes are less impressive. I don't mind the rosew…

Nothing Cadbury ever did was good for the world of sweets and chocolate. Nothing. I'm sorry your childhood was perverted by one of the first corporations to chew and regurgitate foreign cultural items for mass consumption.

For god's sake, never buy Cadbury's. The chocolate is terrible and often is not even chocolate. Cadbury's is the worst that England can offer, an example of how English taste was destroyed by the search for profit. If there is one silver lining in the whole Brexit thing, is that Cadbury's chocolate will once again be uncompetitive in Europe compared to continental offers.

Re: C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

#92

Post by opk »

jballanc wrote: post #61

The Turkish Delight in "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" was, for me, one of the first and clearest examples of how literature can project, even if unintentionally, a skewed view of a culture that bears little to no resemblance to reality. I remember a while back having a debate over dinner (and eventually dessert) with friends as to which European country has the best variety and overall quality of desserts. I…

For the best quality and variety of food in Europe, you're actually best off going to London because you can get everything. Italy (and to some extent France) suffer from a superiority complex with the result that it's hard to get anything other than Italian food. Best food I've had in Italy is in Puglia where there's more sea food. And otherwise, you get better Italian food in the US. Much of what you'd think of as German food is really Austrian or perhaps Swiss and there isn't that much variety to the restaurants here. However, for best quality and variety of native desserts, I would actually put my bet on Austria.

Re: C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

#93

Post by slr555 »

lovich wrote: post #60
slr555 wrote: post #19

Haters gonna hate. I love Turkish Delight. My wife had to travel to Turkey for work and frequently brought it back. I really like it. Actually in general, Turkish food is one of my favorite cuisines worldwide. I also like a lot of Indian sweets that many Americans find to sweet. No accounting for taste.

If you could name some of those I would like to try them. As an american interacting with immigrants and their food I've had a problem where everything they call desert tastes like a dinner item to me due to the lack of sugar. I can't imagine what too sweet for Americans could even be considering I happily ate nutella or pure sugar by the spoonful as a child

I am so sorry to be lame but I used to live in Chicago and shop for sweets on Devon which had a concentration of Indian shops and restaurants. I would just point to what I knew I liked. Stupid of me not to learn. I do remember loving kitul jaggery on a trip to Sri Lanka. Jaggery is a modestly refined sugar that is an ingredient in some Indian sweets as well. Best I can do....

Re: C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

#94

Post by coverband »

santaclaus wrote: post #69
pizzetta wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pastry, I would guess Austria since they have Wieners --what we call "Danishes". which is confusing since for us in the US "wieners" are "Austrian" sausages... but in Vienna, they are again called Danish pastries (Danisher plunder?).

Austrias got the sachertorte game on lock

I've been trying (for many many years) to find either a place that sells (for delivery in the U.S.) or has the recipe for an Austrian dessert called: "Viennese Congress Torte".

Re: C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

#95

Post by coverband »

blincoln wrote: post #38

When I was young, my parents described Turkish Delight as being basically Applets & Cotlets, and that sounds like an accurate description based on this article. Substitute rosewater for apple/apricot/whatever juice and you've got Turkish Delight. Am I missing something? At least in the northwestern US, Applets & Cotlets have been a thing for decades.

The origins of "Applets & Cotlets" is reported to be based on Turkish delight, with the company started by immigrants from Ottoman Empire, around early 1900s.

Re: C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

#96

Post by presidentender »

As children, we very much enjoyed the 88 miniseries, and so my brother asked my mother once for 'Turkish Delight.' She supplied instead a product called 'Aplets and Cotlets,' which I understand is Turkish Delight, as manufactured and consumed in North America. So we had a clear picture of what exactly Edmund was eating fairly early on.

Re: C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

#97

Post by jballanc »

dyukqu wrote: post #84
jballanc wrote: post #61

The Turkish Delight in "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" was, for me, one of the first and clearest examples of how literature can project, even if unintentionally, a skewed view of a culture that bears little to no resemblance to reality. I remember a while back having a debate over dinner (and eventually dessert) with friends as to which European country has the best variety and overall quality of desserts. I…

Oh my God! What a list. It is often called "Fıstıklı Sarma" (rather than dolama ). Güllaç..oh my. What a delight. You probably know, it is usually available in Ramadan - it is about the time now. There are very few places that make it outside of Ramadan. (p.s.: I know one) I guess I'd choose "Kaymaklı Künefe" as my favourite from your list. But there are some others that are not on the list. Let me write them down as…

Great additions! How could I forget Irmik Helvası?! Especially when my mother-in-law makes it so well (and it's relatively simple, as desserts go, to make).

I've only lived 5 years of my life in Turkey (I married into it!), but already I feel like I could write a book on Turkish food culture. One major aspect that I think is often overlooked is the seasonality. Whether it's food that is related to a holiday (Güllaç, Aşure) or food for a particular season (Salep, Boza), sometimes the anticipation makes the treats taste that much better! (...And now I'm sad because I can't have Boza.)

Re: C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

#98

Post by abritinthebay »

Avshalom wrote: post #89
Symbiote wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hershey's contains butyric acid, which is the smell of vomit. My colleagues bring something sweet back whenever they travel, and it's usually gone by the end of the day. The Hershey's was the only thing still left a week later -- even the salty liquorice was eaten! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butyric_acid

Yes, Hershey's chocolate tastes bad, however seeing as all dairy contains butyric acid and thus all milk chocolate: maybe lets not go around trying to draw an equivalence between Hershey's and vomit.

While true, Hershey's contains a lot more. That's why it tastes stronger.

Why? We don't know, trade secret, but it's assumed the milk is lipolized somewhere in their process - as that would produce more of the acid.

Re: C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

#99

Post by paulddraper »

grenoire wrote: post #15

Proper Turkish delight is never coated with icing sugar, but always starch. I don't know where the author had it either, but it is nowhere near being "very, very sweet." Hell, I can't even imagine what an American may consider as being too sweet! Source: Born and raised in Turkey.

In US/British culture, Turkish Delights are coated in sugar and certainly sweet https://www.thespruce.com/turkish-delight-521388 http://allrecipes.com/recipe/95277/turkish-delight/

Maybe misnamed, but hardly the hardly the fault of Mr. Lewis.

Re: C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)

#100

Post by thaumasiotes »

radicalbyte wrote: post #17
grenoire wrote: post #15

Proper Turkish delight is never coated with icing sugar, but always starch. I don't know where the author had it either, but it is nowhere near being "very, very sweet." Hell, I can't even imagine what an American may consider as being too sweet! Source: Born and raised in Turkey.

The stuff you get in the UK is disgusting, it's a sugary jelly with a very strong artificial rose flavour. Sticky sweet goo. I've had the proper stuff in Turkey and it's not sweet, it's not sticky or gooey. The flavour, at least of the stuff I had, was subtle.

I've had it in Greece, where tourist shops sell it under the name "Greek delight" because everybody hates and despises Turkey.

I recall it as being disgusting, but mostly because of the texture. I don't recall it being gummy or chewy at all -- it was soft and didn't put up resistance when you bit into it.

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