In 1906 John Galsworthy wrote 'A man of property', the first book of the
'Forsyte Saga'. What, you ask, has this got to do with food? Well, at the
beginning of chapter viii he writes:

'All Forsytes, as is generally admitted, have shells, like that extremely
useful little animal which is made into Turkish delight;.....'

I always thought Turkish delight was made of gelatin, sugar and suitable
flavouring. Can anyone help with info on this?

Best Regards,
Jack Fearnley

Jack Fearnley > writes:

>In 1906 John Galsworthy wrote 'A man of property', the first book of the
>'Forsyte Saga'. What, you ask, has this got to do with food? Well, at the
>beginning of chapter viii he writes:
>
>'All Forsytes, as is generally admitted, have shells, like that extremely
>useful little animal which is made into Turkish delight;.....'
>
>I always thought Turkish delight was made of gelatin, sugar and suitable
>flavouring. Can anyone help with info on this?

Suitable flavo[u]ring *and colo[u]ring*: cochineal.

Lee Rudolph

Lee Rudolph wrote:

> Jack Fearnley > writes:
>
>>In 1906 John Galsworthy wrote 'A man of property', the first book of the
>>'Forsyte Saga'. What, you ask, has this got to do with food? Well, at
>>the beginning of chapter viii he writes:
>>
>>'All Forsytes, as is generally admitted, have shells, like that extremely
>>useful little animal which is made into Turkish delight;.....'
>>
>>I always thought Turkish delight was made of gelatin, sugar and suitable
>>flavouring. Can anyone help with info on this?
>
> Suitable flavo[u]ring *and colo[u]ring*: cochineal.
>
> Lee Rudolph

I'm a Canadian and that's how we spell those words

I suppose the cochineal insect could be said to have a shell (wing case?).
I was thinking of shellfish and it seemed peculiar.

Is your answer authoritative or just a very reasonable guess?

Jack Fearnley

Jack Fearnley > writes:

>Lee Rudolph wrote:
....
>> Suitable flavo[u]ring *and colo[u]ring*: cochineal.
....
>Is your answer authoritative or just a very reasonable guess?

Well, it's a very reasonable guess backed up by a brief search
with Google that found at least one recipe for Turkish delight
that included optional cochineal (if color were desired); I say
"at least one" because I stopped reading the results after I read
that one. Not authoritative, no.

Lee Rudolph

Lee Rudolph wrote:

> Jack Fearnley > writes:

>>>I always thought Turkish delight was made of gelatin, sugar and
>>>suitable flavouring. Can anyone help with info on this?

>>Lee Rudolph wrote:
>
>>>Suitable flavo[u]ring *and colo[u]ring*: cochineal.
>
>>Is your answer authoritative or just a very reasonable guess?
>
> Well, it's a very reasonable guess backed up by a brief search
> with Google that found at least one recipe for Turkish delight
> that included optional cochineal (if color were desired); I say
> "at least one" because I stopped reading the results after I read
> that one. Not authoritative, no.

The answer is authoritative because it is a frequent ingredient in
traditional rahat lokum. Red was and is a popular color for the confection.

But "gelatin, sugar and suitable flavoring" is a simplified version.
Others employ corn starch alone or in combination with the gelatin.
Still others are formulated with gum Arabic or other congealing agents.
It's called rahat lokum in Turkish (or something close in other
languages because of transliteration). For an interesting read, check
out <http://www.arilokum.com.tr/en/turkish_delight.asp> where it says,
among other things:

"Lokum derives from the word of rahat-ul hulküm; (literally soothing to
the throat) which is used in Ottoman language. Turkish delight, had been
known in Anatolia since 15th century but it had become widespread in the
borders of the Ottoman Empire. Lokum, has also started to be known by
the name of Turkish Delight through the medium of a British traveller in
Europe in 18th century. Previously, Turkish delight has been produced by
the composition of honey or grape molasses and flour. In 17th
century,through the invent and the bring of rafined sugar that had been
known as Kelle sekeri and especially strach in our country, both the
production and taste of Turkish delight has changed. At the present day
some of the major manufacturing firms with ahead of the Ari Lokum are
producing Turkish delight as a result of a healthy and hygienic
production process in completely automatic machines."

One of the traditional flavorings is mastic, a sparely used resinous sap
that's reminiscent of turpentine or retsina. Pistachios and other nuts
were comparatively recent additions.

Pastorio

Thanks Bob and Lee. That all sounds authoritative enough for me.

Jack Fearnley

Thanks Bob and Lee. That all sounds authoritative enough for me.

Jack Fearnley

Jack Fearnley > wrote in news:dMG6e.2495$8i6.151710
@news20.bellglobal.com:

> Thanks Bob and Lee. That all sounds authoritative enough for me.

Except for the weird spelling, eh?

--

[...] remember when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down 'ere on Earth!

Monty Python's Universe Song

"Jack Fearnley" > wrote in message
.. .
> Thanks Bob and Lee. That all sounds authoritative enough for me.
>
> Jack Fearnley
>
>

Couple of notes here (correct me if my facts are wrong but don't even bovver
wif da speiling)

cocchineal is the modern term for an insect that lives off a mexican cactus,
whose name derives from ancient Greek kokkos referring another insect that
nested in the Kermes oak, whose shell yielded a scarlet dye used by the
Spartans to dye their cloaks. Around the same time, the Phoinikians used the
shell of the murex shellfish to dye their cloaks purple. However there was
another small shellfish called kokkalos in ancient Greek which had a
spiralling red shell but which appears not to have been used to make dyes.

Maybe the reference to the shellfish was not to colour but to a gelatinising
substance, not unlike fish glue.

However, the earliest Turkish delight recipes may have played upon the
ancient Greek sources, especially their delight in talking about the mukes
mushroom - which also grew around Kermes oaks.

Recipe and method, anybody? Please?

phbp