The story of the creation of Turkish Delight (lokum) begins in the late 1700s when the Sultan, tired of hard candy cracking his teeth, demanded soft candy from Ali Muhiddin Haci Bekir (confectioner to the imperial court in Istanbul).

Ali Muhiddin Haci Bekir, who came from the Anatolian mountain town of Kastamonu, created a recipe for the soft candy demanded by the Sultan.

He mixed water, sugar, corn starch, cream of tartar and rosewater, cooked it up, poured the mixture into a flat pan slicked with almond oil, and let it cool. Once cool he sprinkled it with powdered sugar, cut it into bite-sized pieces and presented it to the Sultan who loved the new soft,easy to chew confectionery

Rahat lokum (“comfortable morsel”), nowadays called simply lokum, or Turkish Delight, was an instant hit, especially at the palace. Ali Muhiddin became a celebrity overnight as palace bigwigs (or, more usually, their lackeys and gofers) traipsed down the hill from Topkapi Palace to Eminönü on the Golden Horn to buy boxes of lokum to thrill the jaded palates of  Ottoman potentates.

It is 250 years since Ali’s invention and you can still buy lokum at Ali Muhiddin’s shop in Eminönü today. It’s on Hamidiye Caddesi at the corner of Seyhülislam Hayri Efendi Caddesi, two blocks east of the Yeni Cami (New Mosque).

Over the centuries Ali Muhiddin’s descendants, who still own the shop, have played with the recipe, adding things like walnuts, pistachios, oranges, almonds, clotted cream and chocolate. However, the plain rosewater original is still a favorite.

Lokum (Turkish Delight) is now made and sold in thousands of shops throughout Turkey, and enjoyed with Turkish tea or coffee, or just by itself. A favorite place to buy it is Afyon, where the rich local clotted cream is used to make kaymakli lokum.

When you visit a shop, don’t be afraid to ask for a free sample – just say Deneyelim! (deh-neh-yeh-LEEM) which means “Let’s try some!”.