Turkish Delight: Starch Jelly Science & the History of Lokum

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The treat called Turkish Delight that Edmund ate in The Chronicles of Narnia is a type of confection is a type of confection known as a starch jelly. Examples of starch jellies familiar to Americans are orange slice candies, spearmint leaf, gumdrops, or even Swedish fish. You would never be able to make any of those candies at home. They use specially modified starches; acid-Thinned or cross-linked starches. These behave in special ways that make them suitable for high-speed industrial lines. Turkish Delight, however, is an exception.

various Turkish delight on display in shop — Turkish Delight on Display in Shop, Istanbul, Turkey

Defining the Starch Jelly: The Properties of Lokum

Turkish Delight, also known as lokum, is an example of a starch jelly that can be made at home. It relies on retrogradation of cornstarch combined with cream of tartar (Potassium Bitartrate) to prevent crystallization. The basic recipe consists of sugar, water, cream of tartar, cornstarch, and flavoring; usually rose water. Sometimes unsalted nuts are added. Pistachios are traditional (pistachios are plentiful, cheap, and awesome in Turkey). They are meant to be soft and subtle with a gummy mouth-feel, and not over-the-top sweet like other jelly candies.

The Chemistry of the Chew: Retrogradation and Acid-Catalysis

The unique texture of Turkish Delight, firm enough to hold its shape but soft enough to “melt” away, is a result of retrogradation. When cornstarch is heated with water, the starch granules swell and burst (gelatinization). As the candy cools, the starch molecules begin to re-associate into a structured network. This process, known as retrogradation, creates the characteristically opaque, “short” bite of traditional lokum.

However, starch alone would create a tough, rubbery mass. This is where cream of tartar (Potassium Bitartrate) come in. As an acid, it performs two critical functions:

Inversion: It breaks down a portion of the sucrose (table sugar) into glucose and fructose, preventing the candy from becoming grainy or “crystallizing” over time.
Viscosity Control: It slightly weakens the starch network, ensuring the jelly remains supple and gummy rather than rigid.

In other words, while some high-level chemistry is going on when making Turkish Delight or lokum, it can be made with common household ingredients.

Turkish Delight Origin: The Legend of the Harem

Legend has it that one of the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire had this candy developed. He wanted a dessert to “delight wives in the harem.” The cook experimented until he came up with a gelatinous candy-like dessert flavored with rose water and featuring various nuts.

The Haci Bekir Legacy: The Birth of Modern Lokum

While the legend of the Sultan’s ‘harem delight’ persists, the true history of lokum is tied to the evolution of sugar refining. Before the 18th century, sweeteners like honey or molasses combined with flour created a much denser, unrefined confection. It was the innovation of using refined cornstarch, popularized by confectioners like Haci Bekir, that allowed for the crystal-clear, jewel-like transparency we see in modern Turkish Delight.

Ali Muhiddin Haci Bekir was an Ottoman confectioner who came Istanbul in 1777 from a mountain town called Kastamonu. He opened up a store in the city where he cooked up what became this ubiquitous Turkish favorite. As hard as it is to believe, the business is still going strong and locals can still buy their authentic lokum from store branches. Turkish Delight may not be quite what American palates like in a dessert but after two centuries, Haci Bekir must be doing something right.

The lokum at Haci Bekir comes in all sorts of flavors: plain, rose, pistachio, hazelnut, walnut, almond, coconut and almond, cream, cream with cinnamon (winter season), mint, mastic, fruit-flavored (sour cherry, strawberry, orange, apricot, lemon) date, cinnamon, ginger, clove and coffee. You can order an assortment of plain through hazelnut Haci Bekir Turkish Delight. (availability fluctuates) or other single flavors.

The company, however, makes no claim to having invented the confection, highlighting the change in technology that made this new version of older treats possible.

The Sweetener Evolution: From Honey to Refined Starch

Before the 18th-century technology gap was bridged by refined cornstarch and sugar, the ancestors of Turkish Delight were fundamentally different confections. These older versions relied on honey or molasses as the primary sweetener and flour as the thickening agent.

From a chemical standpoint, this created an “unrefined” result:

Texture: Flour-based pastes are opaque and “heavy” because wheat proteins (gluten) and large starch granules create a dense, bread-like structure rather than a clear gel.
Flavor: Honey and molasses are chemically complex and “loud,” whereas refined sugar is a “blank canvas” that allows delicate aromatics like rosewater and mastic to shine.

The shift to refined starch didn’t just change the recipe; it created the jewel-like transparency and “clean” melt-away texture that defines modern lokum.

Forensic Link: The Symbolism of Aromatics: The shift from heavy sweeteners to a “blank canvas” of refined sugar allowed delicate aromatics like rosewater to become the star of the show. This use of botanical scents wasn’t just culinary—it was deeply symbolic.

In medieval and Renaissance tradition, specific herbs and flowers were used to communicate complex messages of fidelity, strength, and remembrance.

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Rest of the Throat: The Medicinal Roots of Loukoum Rahat

The full name of Turkish Delight, Rahat-ul-hulkum, is translated variously as ease of the throat, rest for the throat, and even happiness of the throat. Historians like Tim Richardson point back to an ancient Arabic medical preparation called lohoch (or la’uq).

The Preparation: A lohoch was a gummy, melting electuary, essentially a medicinal paste made of honey and gums, designed to be held in the mouth to soothe a sore throat.
The Evolution: Because these early “throat eases” were flavored with rose, honey, and gums to mask the taste of medicine, the line between “remedy” and “treat” became blurred.
The Result: When refined starch and sugar technology arrived in the 18th century, it took that throat-soothing texture and turned it into a pure luxury item.

American Turkish Delight: The Search for Authenticity

Finding authentic lokum in the United States can be a challenge, as many domestic “jelly candies” lack the traditional starch-retrogradation profile. However, makers like Mansoura Pastries, which claims to be the oldest American producer of Turkish Delight, maintain the traditional methods that prioritize a soft, subtle melt over the rubbery chew of industrial gummies.

Fry’s Turkish Delight: The Industrial Adaptation

The British Fry’s Turkish Delight bar is a prime example of how traditional confections are adapted for the industrial market. While it famously claimed to be ‘Full of Eastern Promise,’ the reality is a gelatin-based chocolate bar that differs significantly from the starch-based original. Despite this technical divergence, historians like Tim Richardson remain fond of the bar, proving that even an ‘industrial proxy’ can have its own culinary merit.

The Disconnect: Because it uses gelatin rather than cornstarch, it lacks the “opaque” and “short” bite of the original.
The Flavor: It relies heavily on artificial rose flavoring, which can taste “soapy” compared to the delicate botanical rosewater used in traditional Ottoman recipes.

The “Copycat” History: Industrial Evolution: The disparity between Fry’s Turkish Delight and authentic lokum is a classic example of how the industrial food complex adapts traditional treats for mass production. This pattern of “copycat” creation, where a new brand attempts to replicate or improve upon an original using industrial technology, is a recurring theme in food history, famously seen in the battle between two of America’s most iconic cookies.

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The Edmund Confusion

This industrial version is likely what many readers imagine when they read The Chronicles of Narnia, which explains the common confusion over Edmund’s betrayal. If Edmund was eating a mass-produced, gelatin-heavy chocolate bar, his choice is baffling. But if he was eating a box of hand-crafted, pistachio-studded Haci Bekir lokum, his “Eastern Promise” becomes much easier to understand.

References

Greweling, Peter P. Chocolates and Confections: At Home with the Culinary Institute of America. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. 165-66.
Richardson, Tim. Sweets: A History of Candy. New York: Bloomsbury, 2003. 38-39.
Bainbridge, James. Turkey. Footscray, Vic.: Lonely Planet, 2011. 157.
Basan, Ghillie. The Middle Eastern Kitchen. New York: Hippocrene, 2006.