[Sca-cooks] Turksih delight

[Johnna Holloway]

I can't get to my copies but Mary Isin's books would be excellent sources on the history.

Sherbet and Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts, London: I.B.Tauris, came out last year.

Her earlier book would have be interlibrary loaned. It's pretty expensive. Friedrich Unger. A King's Confectioner in the Orient, London: Kegan Paul, 2003

""A rare 19th century account of Turkish confectionery by a professional confectioner who pursued his investigations in Greece and Turkey in the 1830s. Friedrich Unger was chief confectioner to King Otto I, …

Johnnae
On Jan 31, 2014, at 12:49 PM, Terry Decker <t.d.decker at att.net> wrote:

> Turkish delight is generally attributed to the Turkish confectioner, Hadji Bekir, who introduced the confection in Constatinople in the 18th Century. Not exactly before 1492 (or 1600) either.
> 
> If you are looking for actual period Islamic confections, I would suggest starting with Cariadoc's Miscellany http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/miscellany_pdf/Miscellany.htm .
> 
> If you want to try making Turkish delight with period ingredients, try replacing the cornstarch with wheat starch.
> 
> Bear
> 
> 
> 
>> Does anyone have a recipe for Turkish delight that is not based on
>> cornstarch?  Assuming that cornstarch was not available before 1492.
>> Thanks, Thea