Home Made Turkish Delight

I was lucky as a child being bought up to a delight of fairy stories and home grown stories of my father before bedtime.  Flying carpets, genies, monstersm fairies nothing was off limits.

My father spent sometime in Egypt with the RAF and developed a fondness for figs and dates which we also had every Christmas so I was exposed at a very early age to good tastes, exotic foods and good home cooking.

Equally Dad trained other engineers and so there were always lots of visitors to our home as Dad always used to bring them home for a good home meal and some company in a strange place.  One of those visitors was an Engineer called Evo.  I nick named him "Evo Stick".  I was very tiny when Evo came into our life but he was an old fashioned Turk a proper gentleman. I believe although do not know exactly that Dad met him on a course at Perkins Diesel and he stayed at a local hotel. He escorted mum shopping once or twice and kept everyone at bay whilst she shopped.  No one was allowed to come up to her or be in her vicinity except us children.  Certainly no other males!  I often wondered what happened to Evo.  I know that Dad kept in touch with him for many years until they eventually lost touch.  Although there was not much English we all managed to understand each other and he was lovely.  I thought an awful lot of him.

I was then introduced to Turkish Delight.  As I have mentioned before Dad used to make his own stories up as well as relay stories from the Arabian Nights, flying carpets and delicacies such as rose petal delight.  I had my first taste and I was hooked.  Indeed, someone that Christmas bought me a box of Hazar Babar Turkish Delight and it has featured at Christmas ever since.  It is one of my little traditions along with dried figs and dates also being on the table.

It got very expensive at one stage and so I decided to have a go at making my own.  It came out surprisingly well and is due to be made again for this Christmas one night during the week. Probably Wednesday. You get a lot more Turkish Delight for your money this way round. If there is any left over that you just cannot eat you can always make a Turkish Delight vodka by adding what is left to a Kilner jar and then adding a bottle of vodka.  Shake it everytime you pass it until all of the solids have dissolved.  Strain through a coffee paper filter and then re-bottle and drink.

Anyway I digress.  

There is a tutorial here together with the recipe which is very different to the recipe I grew up with and will be a new to me recipe. This recipe is gelatine free and more akin to the original recipe.  Gelatine is a quicker more modern addition but something that more and more people are trying not  to use.

Turkish Delight Tutorial  

Hope it makes it to your Christmas table.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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