Turkish Delight

I have wonderful memories of eating bits of my grandmother's rose flavored Turkish Delight and now I want some more! I have no idea where to look for it, though. Does anyone know where I could get some really good Turkish Delight?

I got some rose-flavored Turkish Delight at Pita House Bakery just north of Lawrence on Kedzie a while back. I can't say whether is was good rose-flavored Turkish Delight, as none of us are familiar enough with it to judge, and none of us were enamored with the concept of eating grandma's perfume captured in gelatinous dessert form. Do try the pitas while you're there though--they bake them fresh each morning.

Pita House Bakery
4909 N Kedzie Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 463-6900

Several of the grocery stores on Kedzie have it, in particular Andy's fruit ranch, as does the Middle Eastern Bakery in Andersonville. MED also has rose petal jam. I have yet to think of what to use it for other than a cooling counterpoint to jalapeno jam over cream cheese for a cracker spread.

In the same general area:

Feyrous Pastries
4510 North Kedzie Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625
773-478-4230

A very friendly place, where I have purchased Turkish delight in at least 3 different flavors. Very reasonable pricing also.

I LOVE Turkish Delight too! There is a middle eastern grocery (possibly Turkish?)....can't remember the name, but it's at Devon & California, North side of the street, just a couple doors west of California that has it. Sometimes they even let you sample...yum.

I had not had any for about 10 years when I discovered the cache at Feyrous. I must admit that I ate 3 boxes of it within 2 weeks, which probably cured my Jones for a couple of years.

The little grocery store operated by Pita Inn on Dempster has a wide variety of Turkish Delight, including pound-plus selection boxes and open stock bins of bulk varieties. I'm no expert on Turkish Delight, but when I was there about a year ago, I randomly selected at least a dozen different types from the bins, and most were very tasty, especially those with nuts rolled in. Don't recall whether they carried a rose-flavored candy.

Pita Inn is at 3910 Dempster Street in Skokie; their grocery is right next door.

There are a number of Turkish restaurants on Clark, and I know Turkish Cuisine and Bakery has always had Turkish Delight on offer on the bakery side of the operation. They stuff I've bought there has been as good as the stuff I had in Turkey -- though I mostly went for pistacios, rather than roses.

After reading my son "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," we found several different kinds of Turkish Delight at Marketplace on Oakton. It seems to be seasonal, but they usually have some.

I also have no frame of reference for good Turkish Delight...

Mhays wrote:After reading my son "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," we found several different kinds of Turkish Delight at Marketplace on Oakton.

I just need to observe that based on my one experience with Turkish Delight, I don't really see how one could be motivated to betray the whole land of Narnia for some...

germuska wrote:

Mhays wrote:After reading my son "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," we found several different kinds of Turkish Delight at Marketplace on Oakton.

I just need to observe that based on my one experience with Turkish Delight, I don't really see how one could be motivated to betray the whole land of Narnia for some...

Recall, it was a time of war and war rations, and he had been shuffled off to the country to wait out the London air raids ... so bit of hard jelly may have seemed pretty exciting to him. Or maybe it was not the gift, but the giver that was so attractive, as I recall that story.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Or maybe it was not the gift, but the giver that was so attractive, as I recall that story.

Well sure, if you're going to bring up the fact that she enchanted the Turkish Delight...

I'm also sure that WWII era kids, even despite the rations, had a different sense of taste about a lot of things, and no doubt more so in England.

Still, I didn't get the stuff. Although now that I think of it, some gummy candies I got (and enjoy) at Aji Ichiban this weekend are not all that far off, except for that edible wrapper. I think it's the rose flavored thing...

We had some kind of citrusy turkish delight, and some that had nuts in them that were pretty good - still kind of in the world of gummy candy, though.

Rose water, on the other hand, I just don't get. I saw Queen Noor somewhere saying that she broke her Ramadan fast in the evening with water scented with rose water, so I found some and tried it myself - it was like drinking my Grammy's perfume. Woogh.

Obviously, as with many ethnic specialties, I need to try something rose-flavored as prepared by somebody who knows what they're doing.

I have fond memories of eating Turkish delight as well (brought to us from arab groceries in detroit)

I dont' think the stuff on offer at pita house market is going to be what you are looking for (based on sampling what they have to offer), you are better off on a number of spots on kedzie.

To go a little low-brow, Cadbury's makes Turkish Delight which you can sometimes get in Cost Plus or similar "world market" type places. Also, if memory serves, there is at least one Turkish Delight in a Russell Stover mixed box of candy. I ate that one piece every Christmas of my young life.

Cadbury's Turkish delight is not quite as good as real Turkish delight -- partly because it's presented in a chocolate coated bar, and the simple logistics of creating a bar means you need a stiffer product.

Real Turkish delight (actually called Lokum by Turks) does not contain any gelling agent, which the Cadbury's bars have to make them stiff. Lokum is essentially sugar, water, and a bit of corn starch boiled until it becomes a slightly soft confection that is somewhere between marshmallow and jelly. It is surprisingly not as sweet as one would think.

As for the rose water, consumed straight, yes, it does taste a bit like perfume, but it is an amazing ingredient in recipes -- or even in a nice cup of tea. Perhaps the easiest recipe using rose water, which also happens to be one of the most sublime desserts on the planet, is Moroccan orange salad with cinnamon and rosewater. It just works -- and people are always amazed at how good it is -- and stunned to learn the "secret" ingredient.

Here's my version:

4 navel oranges
2 Tbsp. rosewater
3 tsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Slice the oranges thinly and spread them on a platter. Sprinkle rosewater over the oranges. Next, sprinkle the sugar over them. Finally, sprinkle the cinnamon over the oranges. Let chill for about 30 minutes. Toss lightly before serving. (If you want to make a presentation of this, chill oranges with just the sugar and rosewater, and then sprinkle on the cinnamon just before serving. You could also garnish it with a mint sprig.)

Note: Get really nice oranges. The ones sold in the giant bags, where you get five pounds for $2, are usually not as juicy and flavorful as the ones that are sold individually.

So don't give up on rosewater just because you didn't like it straight.

germuska wrote:Although now that I think of it, some gummy candies I got (and enjoy) at Aji Ichiban this weekend are not all that far off, except for that edible wrapper. I think it's the rose flavored thing...

Are you referring to Botan (w/a toy), by any chance, one of my favorite candies of all time?

Hammond

PS. Thanks to all for responding to the young one with such helpful information.

Cynthia wrote:So don't give up on rosewater just because you didn't like it straight.

Definitely won't! I've found so often it's not really that I don't like a particular food - just that I didn't use it correctly...orange salad sounds delicious!