They are the way we learn about money, sharing and unfortunately stealing. They are one of the few things you can buy on your own as a child and consume. "They are an incredibly emotional thing for them. While modern-day adults and doctors might demonise sweets, children, he says, continue to love them. Much is still made of child molesters using sweets to tempt their prey," says Mr Richardson. From the Brothers Grimm and their gingerbread houses, to Roald Dahl in Willy Wonka and Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in which the scary child-catcher uses sweets to ensnare unsuspecting minors.
Other authors have employed similar devices. The innocence of childhood is being damaged here." "Lewis substitutes them for the apple in the Adam and Eve story when the Snow Queen uses Turkish delight to tempt Edmund. "To adults, sweets are a symbol of a lost innocence," says Tim Richardson. The powerful effect it exerts on the human psyche, particularly that of children, was not lost on CS Lewis and has been revisited throughout modern literature. The appropriate treatment for a sore throat is, of course, a cough sweet.īut society's relationship with sugar and spice and all things nice has become increasingly complex over the years. Lozenges are derived from the Arabic word for a diamond-shaped fondant, lollipops and chocolate are sold side-by-side in modern day chemists. What is known is that sugar played a central part in the Arabic pharmacy - it is a legacy that lingers in European civilisation to this day. Exactly who makes the original and the best version is a hotly contested matter to this day. Halva, which began life in India, was adjusted to local tastes as it journeyed west towards Europe. The invention of baklava, a layered filo pastry confection stuffed with nuts or other flavourings, is contested between Greeks, Armenians and Turks. It is a similar story for other sweets of the region. Cypriot grocers in London will sell it only as Greek delight. The Turks' claim to have invented lokum is even less readily accepted by their neighbours, especially the Greeks. The recipe is repeated on manuscripts pre-dating Hadji Bekir by half-a-millennia. It was displayed on necklaces and eaten during special celebrations. It, too, was made from sugar and starch, and cut into chunks. The Persians developed a sweet, the "no rooz", meaning new year. There is evidence of gummy, syrupy sweets dating back to the 9th century," he says. His love affair with confection was prompted in part by his grandfather's frequent missions to the Middle East as a buyer of Turkish delight (it was a passion not extinguished by his dentist father.) Mr Richardson believes that Hadji Bekir's story lives on, fuelled partly because of its romantic appeal and partly due to the commercial interests that continue to promote it. It became love tokens between courting couples and the accompaniment of choice to a cup of strong Turkish coffee.īut Tim Richardson, author of Sweets: A History of Candy, is sceptical about the veracity of the legend. In Constantinople, fashionable ladies swapped offerings of it in lace handkerchiefs. The recipe spread through the Near and Middle East, what is modern day Greece and the Balkans.
It remains a popular stop on gastronomic tours of the Turkish capital. It thrived under the management of his sons, being handed down generation to generation, and the family still maintains a small shop in Istanbul, close to the Yeni Cami (New Mosque).
He was granted the title of chief confectioner to the palace and established a small shop at Bahcekapi in 1777. It became a daily staple at the sumptuous feasts held at the Ottoman court and Hadji Bekir's fortunes rose dramatically as a consequence.