[Sca-cooks] Turksih delight

[Ursula Georges]

Bear 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.

We do have extant SCA-period Ottoman recipes and descriptions of helva, 
which is a soft sweet, thickened with wheat starch.  The French 
translation of Shirvani has recipes for helva with honey and almonds, or 
honey, rosewater, pistachios, saffron, and grains of paradise.  The 
consistency of helva isn't the same as Turkish delight, but it's still 
tasty (I like mine with lots of nuts).

--Ursula Georges.