History of Turkish Delight

Turkish Delight  was created by a confectioner called Bekir Effendi.  Bekir was from a small town in the mountains of Anatolia and moved to Istanbul to open up a confectionery shop in 1776. Bekir was also known as Haci Bekir after he had completed his hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.  Bekir was a very creative sweet maker and one of the novelty sweets that he produced in his kitchen was Turkish Delight.  It is believed that this original Turkish Delight was based on an ancient Anatolian sweetmeat that was made from honey or grape syrup and mixed together with flour and water. Word spread about his amazing Turkish Delight all around Istanbul and purchasing pieces of Turkish Delight wrapped in a lace handkerchief became one of the fashionable things to do. Eventually the Sultan came to hear about the new sweet that Bekir had created and he liked it so much that he awarded Bekir a Medal of Honour and the Turkish Delight was soon being enjoyed throughout the royal court.  Bekir Effendi’s confectionery shop is still standing in Istanbul today and still selling its delicious Turkish Delight.  Haci Bekir Confectionery is the oldest Turkish company still to be operating in its original location. The company has spread to become a worldwide enterprise and now has representative companies in the US, Great Britain, Japan, France, Egypt and South Africa.