Turkish delight is a sweet, stretchy confection made from starch and sugar, often flavored with rosewater.
The mixture is cooked until it forms a soft gel, then poured into trays to set. Once firm, it is cut into cubes and commonly dusted with powdered sugar or covered with starch to prevent sticking. Nuts such as pistachios, hazelnuts, or walnuts may be added.
The confection is known in Turkish as lokum. Rosewater is a traditional flavor, but modern varieties also use lemon, mint, orange, or other ingredients. Some versions contain no nuts, while others are densely packed with them.
Turkish delight became especially famous in English-speaking culture after appearing in C. S. Lewis’s novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It should not be confused with baklava, which is made from layered pastry, nuts, and syrup, or halva, whose recipes commonly use sesame or other seed pastes.