Turkish delight, halva, baklava and nougat are the delicious calling cards of the East. Sweet, spicy, aromatic, and melt in your mouth. The main thing is not to rush, but to get intense pleasure from every bite.
We call oriental sweets all unusual confectionery products, recipes for which first appeared in the East - in Arabic, Turkish and other cuisines. Some of these desserts have already taken root and become familiar to us - for example, marmalade, grilled fruit, marshmallows or halva, but many still seem like overseas wonders.
The main difference between oriental sweets and desserts from other countries of the world is the presence in recipes of not only generally accepted ingredients (sugar, flour, butter, eggs), but also honey, sesame seeds, candied fruits, dried fruits, nuts, raisins and, of course, spices - vanilla, licorice , ginger. And oriental delicacies can be safely stored without a refrigerator, without fear that they will spoil.
Queen of the East! Baklava is a juicy multi-layered dough product with honey and nut filling. Want details? Please: place chopped walnuts, pistachios, almonds or hazelnuts between thin layers of dough, and then add honey syrup. The art of making baklava originates in Persia, although Turkey also claims to be the birthplace of this sweet. The technique of rolling out dough is incredibly complex, requiring maximum accuracy and skill - perfectly rolled dough is so thin that you can read a book through it! In ancient times, baklava recipes were carefully protected from outsiders and passed from master to master.
Turkish Delight.
Turkish delight is a delicate, marmalade-like delicacy made from sugar syrup. The name rahat-lokum translates as “convenient piece” or “piece of pleasure.” According to legend, the sweetness appeared thanks to the whims of the Istanbul Sultan: he constantly demanded variety. And the pastry chef found a way out: he cooked a mixture of water, sugar, honey, starch, crushed almonds and rose petal syrup, let it harden, then cut it into small pieces and sprinkled it with powdered sugar. The Sultan, having tasted it, was delighted, and after him the sweet pieces fell in love outside the palace. Subsequently, Turkish delight began to be made with nuts, fruit juices and purees, syrups, cinnamon, cocoa, baked cream and coconut.
The most popular oriental sweet, because it is prepared in many countries around the world. But only in Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey can you find kandalatchi - masters of making halva. The classic recipe includes sesame seeds to make tahini halva. Traditionally, sesame halwa is prepared in small pans over high heat. After the dish reaches the required consistency, the mixture is distributed into molds. Other types of halva are prepared based on pistachio or peanut paste, sometimes with the addition of walnuts or almonds. In Russia, halva made from sunflower seeds was liked.
When we mention this name, we first of all, of course, think of fruit and berry ice cream in a paper cup, but if we talk about oriental sweets, sherbet is a soft creamy fondant mass filled with raisins, nuts or vanillin. Sometimes candied fruits or dried fruits are added to sherbet. The finished dessert should be pliable and soft and easy to cut into portions.
Nougat and grilled meat.
Nougat is typically made from honey, egg whites and a mixture of nuts (chopped or whole). The most commonly used are roasted almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts. Lemon zest, cinnamon and vanilla are used to add additional flavors. The consistency of the finished dessert can be very different - from tender and light to thick and hard. Today there are two main varieties of nougat: brown and white. Brown nougat (harder and crispier) is made from caramelized sugar, while white nougat, which is fluffy and light, uses egg whites. Candied fruits, chocolate and dried fruits can give nougat its original taste.
Also, roasted nuts, a dessert made from fried nuts, came to Europe from the East. Beloved by many since childhood, kozinaki is a type of grilled dish made from seeds or nuts with the addition of honey.
The variety and quantity of delicacies sold amazes the imagination and, probably, there is no person who would not succumb to the temptation to try one or another product of oriental confectioners.
Recipes for Turkish desserts, or as they are also called "tattles", have been created for centuries. Culinary masters took into account all the subtleties of the East, for example, the hot climate - the products should not lose shape and quickly deteriorate, the refined tastes of the Turkish nobility, who knew a lot about sweets, and, of course, in appearance, they had to correspond to the national bright color.
In recipes for sweet oriental products, the main ingredients are flour, semolina, nuts and honey, starch, candied fruits and other high-calorie ingredients, so these products are very nutritious and healthy.
It is not for nothing that Turks end their meals with an indispensable dessert, considering it a source of energy, good mood and friendly attitude.
Accordingly, you won’t have to look long for where to buy Turkish sweets – markets, supermarkets and specialized shops are at your service.
In our country, many people have been familiar with some of the Turkish delicacies since childhood; even a child can name five or six names, but few people know how great their diversity is! There are about 180 types of different traditional sweet treats in Turkey. Let's talk about the most basic and popular oriental desserts.
Average prices
Delicacy | Unit measurements | Price |
| Kg | 16-19 $ | |
| Turkish Delight | Kg | 8-11 $ |
| Kg | 6-8 $ | |
| Pishmanie | Kg | 8-10 $ |
Dairy desserts | A portion | 1-3 $ |
Naturally, we are talking about prices in good stores; on the market you can find your favorite delicacies even cheaper, but their quality is sometimes questionable! On the other hand, you can take a risk, especially since natural products from local confectioners are sometimes noticeably superior in taste to factory-made products.
Baklava or baklava (Turkish name)
Baklava is probably the most famous of Turkish sweets. This is a fragrant cake made from thin puff pastry with nut and honey filling and various shades of syrups. Being, in a way, a sweet calling card, its unique recipe is passed down from one generation to another, carefully observing every little detail in preparation.
Every Eastern housewife, among her kitchen utensils, must have a special long mulberry rolling pin, with which she masterfully rolls out the thinnest dough for baklava. Sometimes this is done publicly; such spectacular master classes attract a large number of tourists.
Baklava was first prepared in 1453 for Sultan Fatih. The ruler liked this delicacy so much that his recipe was immortalized in the palace cookbook and became one of the favorite dishes of the Turkish nobility. And today, not a single Turkish feast is complete without this dessert.
During the cooking process, thin layers of dough are soaked in oil and sprinkled with chopped walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios or almonds. The multilayer product is rolled into rolls, baked, and the finished cakes are soaked in sherbet or syrup with added spices.
Turkish Delight
The second most popular and famous sweet from Turkey is Turkish delight (or lokum), which has a long history and is covered in many legends. According to one of them, this delicacy appeared thanks to a very loving sultan. Trying to surprise his beloved women, he ordered his pastry chef to come up with an original and romantic dessert.
The prepared dish of rose water, starch and sugar was liked by everyone and became known as "pieces of pleasure". The personal chef of Suleiman the Magnificent, in order to amuse his beloved ruler with new tastes, improved the lokum using various fruit additives and nuts.
Nowadays, various types of Turkish delight are offered:
- with pistachios,
- honey and cinnamon,
- coconut,
- citrus fruits,
- chocolate and other delicious ingredients.
Popular among tourists is the so-called "Cevizli Sujuk" in the form of a sausage with nuts, filled with thickened grape juice.
On the shelves you can find this dessert in various configurations - square, curly, in the form of rolls, double-layered, Turkish delight is made in the form of large cubes. Carefully sprinkled with powdered sugar, these sweets, like many years ago, conquer the hearts and stomachs of those with a sweet tooth.
Kadaif
Anyone who was lucky enough to visit Turkey could not help but pay attention to the amazing cakes consisting of the finest fiber-threads. These delicate desserts are made from a dough called kadaif and have the same name. They can have various shapes, consist only of baked threads, poured with syrup, or they can be twisted into balls, nests with the addition of various fillings and generously sprinkled with various delicacies.
The recipe for this delicious dish was kept a great secret in ancient times. Expensive ingredients and complexity of preparation were available only to selected court chefs; this dish was prepared only for the Sultan and his entourage. Now it can be found on the counter of any store that sells Turkish sweets.
The most popular are considered "Tel Kadaif" And "Burma Kadaif", the main components of which are sherbet, finely chopped pistachios and the gossamer dough itself, made and skillfully baked by experienced confectioners. Thanks to the skill of the craftsmen, this sweet has a crunchy structure and a delicate, pleasant taste, harmoniously combined with cream and strawberry jam, with which these delicacies are usually served.
Pishmanie
Another well-known and popular sweet with excellent taste and a sad romantic legend.
Once upon a time, a student of a very respected pastry chef fell in love with his daughter, who was not slender. Before giving him as a wife, the future father-in-law set a condition for the young man - to make a dessert, the threads of which would be thinner than the hair of his beloved daughter. The guy managed to make this dish, and in honor of his bride he called it “shishmaniye”, which means "fat". Unfortunately, family life did not work out due to the girl’s intolerable character, the young people separated, and the sweetness was renamed "writing", which translates as "repentance".
According to legend, when this delicacy reached the Sultan’s palace, it was called “palace halva.” In principle, pishmanie is a type of halva, only stretched into long sugar threads. The manufacturing process is very complex and requires great skill.
Water, sugar and citric acid are boiled in large vats, while the flour is fried in oil, and the culmination of this culinary action is the combination of the components into one whole. The homogeneous mass is twisted into a figure eight and stretched in different directions, magically turning into the finest fibers. This sweetness looks like white balls of wool and its structure resembles cotton candy.
Dairy desserts
Türkiye has long been famous for its milk-based sweet products. Having complex names, however, they are very easy to prepare and are distinguished by their beneficial qualities. These sweets are reminiscent of our milk porridges made from rice or wheat flour with added sugar and starch.
Tavuk gegsyu can be translated from Turkish as "chicken breast". This is an exclusive Turkish dessert made with milk with the addition of rice starch and flour, and "trick" is chicken meat, which is ground into a homogeneous puree and added to the mixture. It is absolutely not noticeable in taste, but gives an unusual structure to the dish and a subtle aromatic shade.
Muhallebi
Muhallebi is considered the main dairy sweet, and is made by slowly thickening milk with starch to a jelly-like state. This dessert is very similar to our familiar custard with a baked golden brown crust. Existing types of this pudding differ from each other in various additives and design style.
Keshkul
Keshkul is also one of the popular delicacies. It is prepared with the addition of various nuts, but cashews are mainly used, which gives the dish a pleasant special flavor.
Turkey is an amazing country that combines a warm climate with friendly people, clear sea with bright sun, high mountains, clean beaches and delicious food.
A holiday in Turkey is not complete without tasting Turkish sweets, and here it is easy to gain a few extra pounds, because the abundance and variety of sweets options (tatli in Turkish) amazes with the variety of choice.
What are the most delicious Turkish sweets? How to prepare Turkish sweets at home?
What Turkish sweets should you buy to remember your holiday by the sea?
Today’s article is the most complete guide to Turkish sweets with photos, recipes and descriptions of these airy, melt-in-your-mouth works of culinary art.
Turkish sweets – Kadaif – King of Sweet Turkey
It’s not for nothing that Kadaif is almost the most popular sweet in Turkey.
Tender and crispy, Kadaif amazes with its harmony of taste.
To prepare Kadaif at home, you need to cut the puff pastry as thinly as possible, mix with almond crumbs, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla and season with syrup.
It is customary to serve Kadaif with rose petal jam or cream on top.
And of course, the main companion of Turkish sweets is black strong Turkish coffee.
The most popular varieties of Kadaiv cake are Burme Kadaif, Ekmek Kadaif and Tel-adi Kadaif.
Tel and Burme Kadaif combine pistachios, sherbet and thin string dough and are made into a square or
spirals.
By the way, you can easily find dough for Kadaif or Baklava in any grocery store in Turkey. 
Baklava or Baklava - Turkish sweetness and landmark
Probably among Russians, Baklava is the number 1 most recognizable Turkish sweet.
Everyone has at least once tried Baklava with nuts, drizzled with sweet honey, crispy and juicy.
Baklava, or as they say in Turkey, Baklava, is a thin dough mixed with sherbet, nuts and syrup.
Baklava is also sold on the beaches in Sochi or Crimea, but of course it has only a very distant relation to Turkish sweets.
The right baklava comes in the following flavors:
Hazelnuts - fydykly
Chocolate a-baklava chokolaty
Cocoa - baklava kakola
Walnut - dzhevizli
Baklava has a huge history in Turkey and was originally a royal treat.
The so-called “Saray Baklava” is a roll with finely chopped pistachios, and “Burma Baklava” is similar to a snail cake.
Baklava was invented in Turkey in the early 15th century. This Turkish sweet was first served to Sultan Mehmet Fatih, who conquered Constantinople.
The Sultan liked this Turkish dessert so much that not a day passed without baklava on the palace table.
What other type of baklava is there?
There are many baklava recipes in Turkey; more than a hundred.
The most popular are: Dilber duda, which is shaped like lips, and it was named so because the beloved girl of the cook who created this masterpiece was called Dilber.
“Princess baklavas” - Thin tubes of pistachio dough filled with filling, which are named after the princess.
How to make baklava at home - recipe
Of course, it is better to have special dough for baklava on hand, but you can get by with thin puff pastry.
It needs to be rolled out in the thinnest layer, greased with a mixture of nuts and honey and baked in the oven.
Turkish sweet - Kunefe
The sultans, of course, ate baklava every day, but for European tastes it was too cloying and sweet. Or dessert - Kunefe.
To prepare this delicate dessert, sherbet, cheese and fresh milk are used, which gives a creamy taste and highlights the aroma of kunefe.
Turkish dessert - Pishmaniye
Who doesn't love cotton candy? Everyone loves her. And the Turkish sweet Pishmaniye is the closest relative of the sweet familiar to all children.
Pishmaniye is one of the most popular desserts in Turkey.
How to cook Pishmanie?
In order to get Pishmaniya, you need to boil the sugar syrup for a long time until it becomes sweet and viscous. Then add flour and stir, stretch into thin threads.
The Turkish confectioners came up with writing almost by accident, at a competition in the preparation of halva and nougat. If you haven’t tried Pishmaniya, it tastes very similar to fine fiber halva.
Pishmaniye has a wonderful legend that Turkish sweet sellers love to tell.
A long time ago, one pastry chef invented a dessert and named it in honor of his beloved - “Shishmanie” - plump or plump.
But after the wedding, the wife became grumpy and angry, and the dessert was renamed “Pishmaniye”, which in Turkish means reconciliation.
According to legend, after heated quarrels, the husband brought this delicacy to his wife as a sign of love and his repentance.
If you are going on vacation to Turkey, bring it to your family and try this sweet ball yourself.
Turkish delight - Legendary Turkish sweet
If some Turkish sweets came into use and became popular several decades ago, the history of Turkish delight goes back almost a thousand years.
Nowadays, it is rare to find Turkish delight made according to the correct, ancient recipe, which includes rose petals, sugar, vanilla, water and starch.
The confectioner of the Ottoman Empire, Hadji Bakir, presented Turkish delight to the Sultan, Suleiman the Great, and it was he who began adding additional fillings to the Turkish delight in the form of nuts, nougat and sherbet.
There is not a single market in Turkey where Turkish delight is not sold. Scatterings of the most delicate and fresh dessert are just asking to be put into your mouth, and shops in Turkey are filled with a variety of Turkish sweets made from Turkish delight of all tastes and shapes.
Turkish delight is even considered a symbol of Turkey and is the first to be requested as a souvenir and gift for relatives from a trip.
Did you know that Churchkhella is a type of Turkish delight?
Usually Turkish delight comes in the form of a square or roll, whole or multi-layered, and churchkhella is Turkish delight in the form of a sausage, which came to us from Georgia.
Turkish miracle - Pastalar
There are no hotels in Turkey that do not have at least several types of pastalar to choose from. Pastalar is cakes. Surely you have noticed how skillfully the desserts and cakes are decorated. Pastalar will appeal to lovers of homemade sweets; in Turkey, cakes are richly soaked in syrups and creams, and the most popular of them are “Made” and “Ozsüt”.
Turkish Halva
If you ask a passerby to name the most popular Turkish sweets, it will probably be: baklava, Turkish delight and halva.
Turkish halva is a brand and a deep tradition of culinary excellence.
Turkish halva is prepared from ground sunflower seeds and caramel and comes in several types: vanilla, peanut, chocolate, caramel, sesame.
If you have tried the Indian treat “halawa”, then you will surely like Irmik halwa. It is one of the simplest and most delicious Turkish sweets that any housewife can prepare. The recipe for this halva is simple and does not require complex ingredients.
To prepare Irmik halva you need to: fry the flour until golden brown, add syrup and nuts, mix and add 100 grams of butter and semolina. Let it brew for an hour, and then simmer over low heat until it swells.
This mixture is formed into balls, to which nuts are added and rolled in cocoa. 
Turkish ice cream – Dondurma
It would seem that ice cream can be somehow special or surprisingly tasty? Maybe!
if it is prepared in Turkey - by the Turks.
Dondurma is Turkish sticky ice cream, which is prepared completely differently than what we are used to.
A secret ingredient is added to dondurma - “Salep”, this is hot tea made from orchid roots.
Thanks to this, dondurma acquires viscousness, does not melt and has a soft sweet taste.
The origin of Turkish ice cream dondurma is attributed to the town of Kahramanmaraş.
Be sure to try Turkish ice cream on vacation, which the locals prefer to eat with a knife and fork, and if you come across real goat milk dondurma, the taste will be slightly specific.
Where to taste real dondurma in Turkey?
There is a chain of cafes “Mado” scattered along the southern coast of Turkey, where from time immemorial they have been serving real Turkish ice cream, according to a recipe from Kahramanmaraş.
If you are interested in Turkish sweets and crave new taste sensations, then ask the waiter - kazandibi, tel kadaifa, baklava or kabak tatlisi.
All these are amazing Turkish sweets, which are not very popular among Europeans, because the latter simply do not know about their existence.
What sweets to try in Turkey
What desserts are there in Turkey?
Typically, Turkish sweets are divided into dairy and flour. Separately, there are sweets in which starch, nuts, syrups and fruits are added.
The most delicious and favorite flour Turkish dessert among Russians is Baklava (baklava)
There are hundreds of types of baklava in Turkey.
We advise you to try, while in Turkey, a Turkish sweet with the playful name “lady's navel” - Hanim Gebei.
Outwardly, they are somewhat similar to our donuts in sweet syrup, only smaller in size. They are also dipped in sherbet for flavor.
The taste of “vizier’s fingers”, which are reminiscent of eclairs, only much sweeter and fattier, will seem familiar.
In general, the distinctive feature of Turkish sweets is a lot of sugar, fat, deep fat and no counting of calories. If you are following a strict no-carb diet, then Turkish sweets are not for you.
Perhaps eating Turkish sweets every day is very harmful, but during the holidays you can relax your belts and enjoy the taste of Mediterranean desserts.
If you are looking for benefits as well as taste, try Ashure.
Ashure is a Turkish dish that is a symbol of prosperity and wealth at home. They are treated to guests after the Eid al-Adha holiday. Ashure contains about 40 ingredients and has everything in it: rice, pearl barley, beans, pomegranate, nuts, citrus fruits and much more.
Ashure is considered a very healthy dessert, as it combines the optimal amount of vitamins, minerals and glucose.
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What are eastern countries associated with? Of course, with national sweets. And SKyprus is no exception. I always scold myself that I can walk along the same streets and never go into some shops. But in vain!!! Because they contain a lot of interesting and useful things. Such as, oriental sweets shop "SWEETY" in the harbor of Kyrenia, which was a great discovery and surprise for me. The kind owner treated us to his delicacies and told us where and what they get.
The store has a lot of products from Turkey, but they prepare all the loose sweets themselves at their factory in Nicosia. They have three stores in total, one in Kyrenia and two in Nicosia. It turned out that products in the tourist place itself are cheaper than at fairs, markets and festivals. The owner also said that in their Turkish delight they use natural sugar, and not its substitutes, so the delicacy is of higher quality and more expensive.
The assortment simply amazed me, because from a display case with Turkish delight you only expect Turkish delight))) but more on that later. And in the store all prices are indicated, they are the same for everyone))))
Nuts, sesame seeds, honey, raisins, candied fruits and spices - vanilla, ginger, licorice - are widely used in the preparation of oriental sweets. They are also distinguished by the fact that oriental sweets could be stored for quite a long time in a warm climate, and they did not spoil as a result.
The history of oriental sweets goes back many centuries. The exotic delicacies of the Far East were unknown to Europeans for a long time. They appeared in Europe around the 17th - 18th centuries and were served in the richest houses as exquisite delicacies.
Oriental sweets, brought to the court of a European king as a gift, were the best sign of attention and were equal in value to the cost of spices and precious stones. They have an atypical tasty, pleasant aroma. This has become a traditional gift bought by tourists in eastern countries. Many who travel to Turkey, Greece and Cyprus strive to try this taste and feel the sensations of this country.
The beautiful names Turkish delight, baklava, halva, sherbet, all these oriental sweets attract not only with their taste, but also with their names. And kind sellers strive to treat you to a piece of this or that delicacy.
Let's move on to the store's assortment. I was simply killed by the amount of “I want” in my head. Entire shelves of Turkish teas, all kinds of sweets, all kinds of jars, a sea of spices, etc.
I'll start with tea. I once saw comments from people who were looking for loose tea (not in bags). So, there’s a whole shelf of tea on the left side. Tea bags, a million flavors, natural and non-natural tea for brewing (with the addition of flavoring agents), different weights, and also as a gift (for tourists). Honestly, my eyes widened. But I made my choice and Murat helped us a lot, pointing out the most natural one)))
Let's move on to sweets. Turkish delight and fruit and nut desserts.
One of the most popular Turkish sweets. The recipe for Turkish delight was first compiled in the 18th century. Turkish court pastry chef Ali Bekir. Originally, Turkish delight was made from rose water, sugar and starch. Over time, they began to add chocolate, nuts, pistachios, lemon zest, honey, cinnamon, fruits, and coconut flakes. Usually Turkish delight is prepared in cube shape and in the form of rolls. It can be whole and multi-layered, as well as in the form of a sausage stuffed with walnuts, covered with grape juice, thickened with flour. In Turkey it is called “cevizli sucuk”, this type of Turkish delight is familiar to everyone under the Georgian name “churchkhela”. There may also be other types.
I already said that they sell their sweets by weight. This is also convenient because you can try everything. They are responsible for their quality))) and put only natural products in them. There are all kinds of colored sausages on display. Made from natural pomegranate juice, nuts, rose petals, etc. I want to try absolutely everything))) But after the first or second bite it becomes cloying in my mouth. The prudent owners provided a water cooler.
Baklava
According to historians, the first “baklava” appeared in the Ottoman Empire in 1453, the court chef of the Topkapi Palace first prepared it for Sultan Mehmed Fatih, the Sultan was so amazed by its unusual taste that he ordered the method of preparing baklava to be included in the palace recipe book.
Baklava is prepared from the finest puff pastry with nuts and soaked in sherbet. Depending on the filling of the baklava, there are cevizli - baklava with walnuts, fıstıklı - with pistachios, fındıklı - with hazelnuts. There is baklava with the addition of cocoa or chocolate.
Milk is added to baklava sherbet “Sutlu Nuriye”, and hazelnuts are used for the filling. Due to the milk, its taste becomes unusually delicate and not so cloyingly sweet.
Halva.
Almost everyone knows about this delicacy. Prepared from caramel mass and grated oil seeds. There are several types: peanut, nut, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, sunflower, tahini (sesame seeds).
Pishmanie
A delicate delicacy, slightly reminiscent in structure of cotton candy, and in appearance as a ball of woolen thread. It is prepared from flour and a viscous mass obtained by prolonged boiling of sugar syrup. The most interesting thing begins when several confectioners begin to knead the resulting mass, stretching it, turning it into the thinnest threads.
Cezeriye
“Jezeriye” is prepared from carrot and pomegranate juice with the addition of nuts, sprinkled with coconut flakes.
Oriental sweets is a general name for confectionery products of Transcaucasian, Arab, and Central Asian cuisines. In the preparation of oriental sweets, nuts, sesame seeds, raisins, candied fruits, vanilla, ginger, licorice, rose water and many other ingredients are widely used in combinations unusual for Western confectioners. Oriental sweets can be made in the form of caramel and montpensier (for example: roasted meat, kozinaki), sweets (Lukum, halva, nougat), flour products (baklava, kyata). In the East, all types of sweets are called “halawa”, which in Arabic means “sweets” (which, by the way, is where the word “halva” comes from).
Once upon a time, a long time ago, the production of oriental sweets was carried out exclusively by healers and pharmacists. “Sweets are a sign of joy. They heal the soul, nourish the brain and fill with happiness!” - they have said from time immemorial in the East. Healers claimed that sweets have amazing properties. With the help of tasty medicines you can improve your health faster! Sweets were credited with magical powers and healing properties. In fact, the sweet taste helped to mask the unpleasant taste of the medicine that was placed inside Turkish delight or a piece of nougat. And sweets without medicinal filling were prepared for padishahs and noble people. In Europe, delicacies from the far East appeared around the 17th - 18th centuries, they were served in the richest houses as exquisite delicacies.
The range of oriental sweets is very wide. All sweets are divided into three groups: products such as soft sweets or caramel, various fruit or dairy desserts and flour products. Sweets such as caramel are made by melting honey, molasses or sugar. Crushed or whole kernels of nuts - peanuts, pistachios, cashews, walnuts or sesame (sunflower) seeds - are added to the hot caramel mass. The resulting mass is given the desired shape, cooled and packaged. The finished products have a solid consistency, differ in the caramel mass recipe, finishing, shape and size (almond kozinaki, cashew kozinaki, walnut, sesame seeds, roasted nuts, chocolate-covered nuts or caramel-covered nuts). From the pulled caramel mass, shaker-pendyr is prepared in the form of oblique pads; it is made with vanilla, mint, lemon, ginger, and parvadu - sweet pads sprinkled with flour. Halva, popular in different countries, also belongs to caramel-based sweets.
Halwa in Arabic means “sweetness”. This is a product that consists of thin caramel fibers and lightly fried grated oil seed kernels located between them. not only very tasty, but also nutritious, thanks to the content of fats and proteins, in addition to sugar. The following types of halva are distinguished: tahini, peanut, sunflower, nut and combined - when several types of oil seeds or nuts are used simultaneously.
Oriental sweets such as soft candies are most often made from sugar-treacle syrup with egg whites and the addition of nuts, dried fruits or candied fruits. However, the syrup for this type of sweets is boiled less than for regular sweets, so the resulting products have a softer consistency. Oriental sweets such as candies, depending on the recipe and method of production, are divided into: nougat, whipped delight, Turkish delight, oilu, aly, butter log, chuch-helu and sherbet.
It is obtained by boiling sugar-treacle syrup, agar, starch with the addition of flavoring and aromatic substances. This is a soft and delicate marmalade-type product; its surface is thickly sprinkled with powdered sugar. Initially, Turkish delight was made from fruits, rose water, honey, crushed almonds and starch, but over time, more and more new recipes began to appear. So, to prepare Turkish delight, they began to use walnuts and pistachios, colorful fruit juices, fresh fruits and chocolate. And at the beginning of the 18th century, another variety of Turkish delight appeared, which was called “white splendor” - confectioners from the Turkish city of Afyon came up with the idea of diluting the sweet mass with melted cream.
Today, Turkish delight is made from syrup, agar (a natural gelling agent made from red seaweed), starch with the addition of fruit juice, fruits or nuts. The lokum is sprinkled with powdered sugar on top, or - these are the trends of new times - with coconut flakes. Turkish delight differs in shape and size. In oriental sweet shops you can see the following types of Turkish delight: cubic, rolled, whole, sliced, double-layered and children's (in the form of animal figures). The closest relative of the eastern Turkish delight is marmalade.
Another popular “candy” oriental dish is. Sweets made from a sweet, sticky mass are perhaps the most popular delicacy in European countries. The exact origin of Nuga is unknown, but most likely it appeared in Persia and was initially available only to the padishahs. To prepare it, egg whites, starch, as well as fried nuts, raisins, dried apricots, cinnamon, cocoa or pieces of fruit are added to the syrup. Nougat can be anything you want - creamy, lemon, tangerine, chocolate, almond - everything is limited only by the imagination of the confectioner. The only exception is that real nougat cannot be made from peanuts. There are two types of nougat: white and brown. Caramelized sugar is added to brown nougat, and its consistency becomes denser and even crispier. White nougat is made from sugar-treacle syrup, beaten with egg whites, with the addition of nuts, raisins, dried apricots and other additives. The finished mass is cooled and cut into rectangles or squares.
Flour oriental sweets are all kinds of combinations of honey, sugar, nuts and dried fruits. These products are made from shortbread, yeast or unleavened dough with various fillings, and when finished they are often soaked in syrup or honey. Flour oriental sweets include cookies, gingerbreads, pies with sweet filling and rolls. But the most famous flour sweet is baklava or baklava. The famous multi-layer dessert made from the thinnest dough and nut filling, soaked in syrup with spices, is very common in the cuisines of the peoples of the former Ottoman Empire. And each baklava has its own secrets and “zest”.
Baklava is a multi-layered dessert made from paper-thin sheets of dough, which are coated with butter and laid out in layers in a rectangular baking dish or rolled into cylinders. Traditional baklava is made from 8-12 thin layers (in some types the number of layers reaches 40) of dough with a nut filling between them. Ground and finely chopped walnuts or pistachios are placed between layers of dough, the pie is cut into pieces, poured with honey and placed in the oven. Spain, Great Britain and the USA have their own baklava recipes, although the baklava recipe here has some differences. So, the British prepare baklava with chocolate, and the Americans add maple syrup to it.
One of the famous oriental sweets is sherbet - a chilled dish made from fruit juice and puree and very similar to fruit ice cream. Sherbet is a dessert of Iranian origin, popular in Central Asia and the Caucasus. However, for example, in Azerbaijan, light, liquid sherbets have come into use, used mainly as soft drinks, and in Tajikistan, heavy, thick sherbets, used more like jam, are common. Sherbet can be very different - from aromatic colored fudge with crushed nuts to a soft drink. Traditional oriental sherbet was prepared from rose hips, dogwood, roses, licorice and various spices. In Europe, sherbet was transformed into sorbet, a delicious dessert made from fruit and ice cream.
Unfortunately, nowadays it is difficult, and sometimes even impossible, to find high-quality oriental sweets. Abundant with preservatives, dyes and other achievements of the chemical industry, they often turn out to be unpleasant to the taste. Not to mention the fact that recently the number of people suffering from food dyes or. Therefore, the best way to guarantee a tasty, high-quality and healthy product is to make it yourself.
Oriental sweets eaten with a cup of coffee or tea, accompanied by your story about an amazing trip, what could be better. This is the most ideal end to the work week and pleasant memories of your tourist trip to Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia and other eastern countries.
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