“Let’s eat sweet, speak candy” is a well-known phrase that relays how crucial cakes are in Turkish subculture and cuisine. In Turkey, dessert is mostly a social ritual, a ritual supposed to be shared. Desserts have continually held a special place in Turkish cuisine and are a crucial part of other foods. Offering chocolates or something to drink to someone is one of the maximum honorable functions of the Turkish way of life. They are consumed in regular everyday meals in ordinary Turkish cuisine, too.
Desserts have distinct meanings while served in unique activities, from celebrations to funerals. Here are some of the ceremonial cakes that you should recognize if you happen to come back to Turkey and discover yourself with a plate of Turkish dessert in your hand.
Lokum (Turkish delight)
A famous Turkish dessert, “lokum,” is a high-quality gift to present, the best partner to Turkish coffee, and an important piece of spiritual feasts. It was first referred to as “Rahat ul-hulküm” in Arabic. This means that “comforting the throat,” however, at the time, it became “lokum” in current Turkish. Turkish satisfaction, which became a vital part of the imperial kitchen of the Ottoman Empire, has a vast body of records. The manufacturing of lokum in Anatolia is going lower back to the 15th century; however, it was not until the seventeenth century that it gained popularity and began to be associated with the Turkish lifestyle. Lokum began to be produced en masse closer to the end of the 1700s in dice-shaped cuts, which remains the form one identifies Turkish pride with these days.
There is a ramification of locums, inclusive of the traditional and traditional hazelnut ones, in addition to double roasted, with pistachio, rose, gum, and saffron, with a chocolate coat in case you need to move a little bit loopy. But lower back within the day, it became not viable to discover unique flavors in lokum. It is thought that, in the beginning, honey and molasses were used as sweeteners, and flour turned into used for the consistency of lokum. Then, in the second 1/2 of the 18th century, as Anatolia changed into added to subtle sugar, its miles started for used in lokum manufacturing and other candy ingredients in preference to flour.
Lokum, the most desired candy inside the Ottoman Empire for almost three centuries, was introduced to Europe by a British tourist in the 18th century. It came to be called “Turkish delight” and soon became known around the sector. Turkish pride is one of the fine and valuable items that may be taken domestic after a pleasant trip to Turkey. You can without problems get a % of lokum as a present for your buddies and family from the airports, stopovers, or bus stations.
Güllaç
Güllaç, a mixture of two words, “güllü” and “aş,” meaning “meals with roses,” is a conventional Ramadan dessert. It is preferred mainly during iftar, when one breaks their fast at dusk, as it’s a mild dessert. You can see this traditional dessert within the home windows of all pastry stores throughout the holy month. The records of güllaç date again to the fifteenth century. At first, humans made dough from corn starch, which they dried throughout the summer. Then, after softening the dough with milk and sugar, they might eat it during winter. In the second one 1/2 of the 15th century, the sultan followed these meals, which became subtle in the imperial kitchens, and became the dessert we recognize nowadays. The dessert, from time to time, consists of rose water, even though it is optional. It is normally garnished with fresh pomegranate seeds and groundnuts, including walnuts or hazelnuts. It is likewise possible to peer güllaç, which is garnished with pistachio.
İrmik helvası:
Halva’s origins date back to the Middle East, but it can be seen in many areas, from the mountains of Eastern Anatolia to the Balkans. So, it isn’t always unexpected to see halva in all sorts of cuisines: Arabs, Turks, Jews, and greater consumers.
The Turks first came across halva when they accepted Islam as their religion and began to get acquainted with the Arabic subculture. In the Ottoman Empire, halva had a cultural role. Today, it’s miles are commonly organized at the deceased’s house after a funeral, in which they miles served to those coming and are likewise allotted to the acquaintances. It is a subculture to put together halva on the 7th day, 40th day, and 365th day after following someone’s death.
Baklava
Baklava has through a long way, the most well-known dessert. With its richness and sweetness, it makes for the favorite pastry of choice for Turkish feasts. Baklava is prepared using stuffing pistachios, nuts, or, much less commonly, almonds or hazelnuts, among layers of dough leaves. The birthplace of this dish is the metropolis of Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, which has long been associated with pistachios and baklava itself. It is known that within the Ottoman palace and mansions, the cooks who were specialists in making the baklava were favored. Therefore, the chef to be recruited was given a baklava-making check in addition to a pilav (rice meal) check. Thus, the master of baklava becomes decided in step with his talent of making the dough as thin as feasible.
Before baking, the baklava tray changed into the residence owner’s introduction; the proprietor could drop a gold coin on the top of a tray from half a meter. If the gold reached the bottom of the tray, passing all of the layers, the chef changed into considered a hit, and the gold within the tray went to the chef as a tip. If the gold stayed at the layers, the baklava tray could be sent returned to the kitchen. If this demonstration failed in the presence of guests, the landlord felt ashamed and disgraced.
Baklava turned into a critical part of Turkish cuisine, and a part of the kingdom affairs of the Ottoman Empire, as this candy pleasure became the hero of a kingdom ceremony. The tradition of “The Baklava Procession,” which emerged within the past due seventeenth or early 18th century, is the maximum prominent instance. In the center of the month of Ramadan, a baklava baker got here to the palace. One baklava tray for every ten infantrymen was prepared and covered up in front of the imperial kitchen. After Silahtar Agha took possession of the primary tray on behalf of the sultan, different janissaries took their trays and walked out in the icy month from the open doors. The humans of Istanbul poured onto the streets to watch the baklava procession. This lifestyle, which made baklava an image of the Ottoman reign, has become history with the janissaries.
The ultimate baklava procession was made months before the guild of the janissary was eliminated. The oldest Ottoman file about baklava is within the Topkapı Palace kitchen books, dating back to the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror. According to this report, the first baklava was baked in Sarajevo in 1473.
Aşure
Aşure, the oldest dessert in the records of humanity, also known as “Noah’s pudding,” is a fruity dessert that also fulfills a critical social and ritual function. Aşure is a festive pudding of cereal grains, sugar, and raisins. According to legend, it was first concocted within Noah’s Ark’s galley from whatever turned into left within the pantry. The pudding is served historically on the tenth day of the month of Muharrem in keeping with the Islamic calendar and distributed to the pals and cherished ones. The period aşure originates from the Arabic phrase “ashara” because of this ten or tenth. It is thought that it is not only a dessert. However, it is first and important a symbol of sharing, cohesion, love, wealth, and an image of our lifestyles collectively.
