TURKISH DELIGHT  (LOKUM)

"Lokum" is a traditional sweet made of sugar and starch. İt is believed that the production goes back to the XVth century and it achieved its final recipe during the XIXth century. Formerly honey and condensed must were used together with flour for its consistency. When the importation of sugar was initiated at the end of the XIXth century, it became the basical ingredient for the "lokum" confection and later the flour was also replaced by wheat starch.         Today the ingredients of "lokum" are certain amounts of sugar, corn starch and water, boiled for a certain time, together with some fruits or nuts or any other flavour. The cooking time differsbetween 1 to 2 hours, depending onthe size of the boiler. The thick substance is then poured into special wooden trayssprinkled with corn starch; it is also sprinkled on top. İt stands from 24 to 48 hours until it gets cool and has a flexible consistency. Then the starch is brushed off, it is sprinkled with powdered sugar and cut up into small cubes.     Apart from the plain "lokum",there exists a great variety with fruits such as strawberries, cherries, lemon or orange, with nuts such as pistachios, walnuts or almonds, and other flavours such as mastic, vanilla, coconut, mint, milk cream or rose water. İn the provinces, there are many other local types of "lokum".