SIMPLE YET SOPHISTICATED

Real lokoum (pronounced ‘lock-hume’), or ‘Turkish delight’ as it’s known in the west, is quite different from the version you get here in the UK. For a start it’s not all about rose or citrus flavours, and it’s usually firmer and less sweet. Due to the simplicity of the ingredients, authentic Turkish delight is also gluten free and suitable for vegans.

We’ve carefully selected six different flavours of Haci Bekir’s world famous lokoum to take your experience of our coffee to a whole new level. They include pistachio, mastika, clove, date selection, cinnamon, and rose, and come packaged in pretty boxes of 200gr, all hand cut (so some pieces are larger than others). Each box is a single flavour, so as not to let the stronger flavoured Turkish delights overpower the subtler ones.

We believe lokoum was made to go with coffee. Bite a piece, let it melt on your tongue, then take a sip of dark, sumptuous Turkish coffee and the complex flavours just envelop your senses.

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THE STORY

Turkish Delight is a world-famous delicacy that dates back to the Ottomans. Believed to be invented by Bekir Efendi in 18 th century, the original recipe calls for starch, water and sugar cooked slowly for several hours, to which a variety of flavours or nuts are added. The resulting mixture is then poured into trays to form jelly-like ‘cakes’ which are cut into cubes and dusted with icing sugar.

Classic Turkish delight flavours include rose, lemon and fruits, whereas premium varieties contain pistachios, hazelnuts, mastic and dates.

Real Turkish delight is made with real sugar without glucose syrup and doesn’t contain gelatin making it suitable for vegetarians, vegans, and those following halal and kosher diets.

Once called ‘rahat-ul hulkum’ during the Ottoman era (meaning ‘that which relaxes the throat’), the name ‘Turkish delight’ was coined by an English tourist who tasted the sweet on his visit to Istanbul and took cases of it back home to Britain.

Following its introduction to Europe, Turkish delights appeared in several works of Western literature in the 19 th century, such as C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia and Charles Dickens’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which added to the reputation of the sweet.

True taste makers are the architects of culture. Come and savour the scent of history through our exquisite Turkish confections

– Haci Bekir

THE CONFECTIONER

At Özerlat we’ve matched our authentic Turkish coffees with lokoum from the legendary confectionery house Haci Bekir, which was established by master confectioner Bekir Efendi in Istanbul in 1777 (making Haci Bekir one of the oldest 100 companies in the world).

After starch was invented in the mid-19th Century, Bekir Efendi modified his original recipe, switching to corn starch as the binding agent instead of flour, which gave Turkish delight the distinct chewiness that it is now known for. This unique taste quickly gained reputation and the fame of the delicious sweet eventually reached the Ottoman Sultan at the time earning Bekir Efendi appointment as the chief confectioner to the palace, a status that his family held until the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1920.

Bekir Efendi’s recipe is the one that the family still uses today and have kept secret for generations. Haci Bekir’s descendants have continued the family tradition for over two centuries and five generations and today, the company still operates as a family business loyal to the artisanal methods of the founder.