# What did you think Turkish Delight was, when you first read Narnia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking, books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [February 11, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630 "2023-02-11T17:37:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/21 "2023-02-11T21:50:35Z")
Real turkish delight from the region it originates from is quite a lot nicer than most of the stuff you get in supermarkets. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/22 "2023-02-11T21:54:05Z")
When I first tasted real Turkish Delight I too was reminded of Aplets & Cotlets, which are themselves quite meh but way better than T.D. for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/23 "2023-02-11T22:34:10Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I identified it with divinity, which is sort of akin but actually quite a bit better. I think you and I might be thinking of different things as “divinity”. To me, that’s a sort of aerated unflavored fudge, that somehow tastes like it has a pound of sugar in a piece the size of the tip of your thumb. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/24 "2023-02-11T22:52:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > To me, that’s a sort of aerated unflavored fudge, that somehow tastes like it has a pound of sugar in a piece the size of the tip of your thumb. Me too. It also reminds me of a cross between taffy and a marshmallow but it’s brittle and chalky rather than squishy and chewy. [![](https://tmbidigitalassetsazure.blob.core.windows.net/rms3-prod/attachments/37/1200x1200/Grandma-s-Divinity_EXPS_GBDBZ20_117990_B01_09_1b.jpg) ](https://tmbidigitalassetsazure.blob.core.windows.net/rms3-prod/attachments/37/1200x1200/Grandma-s-Divinity_EXPS_GBDBZ20_117990_B01_09_1b.jpg) It has been many years since I’ve had it so my memory might not be super reliable. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/25 "2023-02-11T22:54:08Z")
I too thought it was similar to caramel, until many years later I saw this: > **[Turkish Delight](https://xkcd.com/1980/)** > > I take it Narnia doesn't have Cinnabons? Because if you can magic up a plate of those, I'll betray whoever. and from that I lost whatever faint desire I had to ever try it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/26 "2023-02-11T22:56:33Z")
I knew what it was before I ever read Narnia. Piper Dad sold it in his drugstore at Christmas time, and always brought a box home. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/27 "2023-02-12T03:40:03Z")
The funny thing is that she also gave him hot cocoa, which is legitimately delicious, but it’s the Turkish delight he wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/28 "2023-02-12T03:46:18Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I thought it was candy, and for some reason thought it was like caramel. I don’t know if I formed a solid opinion at the time but I had a vague impression it was this. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/29 "2023-02-12T03:54:39Z")
I assumed it was some kind of candy or other thing that tastes good that a kid wanted. I still have no idea what it actually is, nor do I care. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/30 "2023-02-12T04:41:19Z")
I thought it was like Aplets and Cotlets as well. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/31 "2023-02-12T05:22:54Z")
I understood that I did not know what it was, but for the purpose of visualizing the story, I assumed it to be something akin to Bonomo’s Turkish Taffy, and better known tо English than to American children. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/32 "2023-02-12T05:30:10Z")
I read the Narnia books in my 20s, and I loved the idea that here’s this incredible, ineffable treat… and I have no idea what it is. I was content to go through life with this mystery, but then I married a woman from the Upper Left Corner (my name for it… sorry, Alaska) where they make Aplets and Cotlets. Since I love jellies, fruit, nuts, and things that are too sweet, these enchanted me. So… Sorry, Peter and Susan and Lucy, but I’m going with the evil queen… > **[How Two Armenian Immigrants Made Turkish Delight An American Hit](https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/23/520815111/how-two-armenian-immigrants-made-turkish-delights-an-american-hit#:~:text=In%20most%20of%20the%20world,it%20as%20%22Turkish%20delight.%22)** > > Decades ago, an orchard in Washington state began producing "Aplets & Cotlets," a version of a confection based on childhood memories and hard work — and still beloved in the Pacific Northwest. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/33 "2023-02-12T05:49:15Z")
I logged on to say that - for reasons unfathomable - I imagined it to be like divinity, only to find that Ulfreida has already said that, and Atamasama has posted a photo that makes my teeth hurt just to look at it. But yeah, young me was clueless as to what Turkish Delight was, but my imagination filled in the gap with the most tooth-rottingly sweet confection I knew: divinity. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/34 "2023-02-12T11:08:01Z")
I think that by the time I read the CS Lewis books I’d tried proper (well, not the Fry’s) Turkish Delight, as a UK child of the Eighties. I preferred the lemon flavour as opposed to the rose (those were the two flavours in a box). As with a lot of memes (see also; Marmite), I find myself in a less interesting, non-polarised position; TD was a pleasant enough exotic treat, but not as good as, say, a Cola Cube. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/35 "2023-02-12T11:10:10Z")
Pretty much the same. I was picturing a flaky, white, crunchy baked goodie with something like crushed almonds and honey/maple syrup-ish stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/36 "2023-02-12T11:21:56Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I later found out that it’s **extremely** similar. Liberty Orchards, the makers of Aplets & Cotlets, do also make a box that features more traditional Turkish delight flavors like rosewater + pistachio and orange blossom + almond. I’ve never seen it in stores, but you can order it direct from their website and I’ve found it to be tasty stuff, even though I generally have trouble eating anything with nuts in it because of my missing teeth and my aversion to wearing dentures. To answer the OP’s question, it was such a long time ago that I first read the book that it’s hard to recall exactly what I thought it was, but I’m pretty sure I understood it was some sort of bite-sized candy that had nuts in it. Looking back on it, I imagine that Jadis had probably never heard of the stuff before and used her magic to conjure up the most delicious thing that Edmund could imagine eating, so it probably wouldn’t matter what the treat was or if it had any resemblance to real Turkish delight. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/37 "2023-02-12T11:32:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I was picturing a flaky, white, crunchy baked goodie with something like crushed almonds and honey/maple syrup-ish stuff. Ditto but definitely pistachios and honey. Very baklava-ish. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/38 "2023-02-12T11:45:04Z")
Maybe the “moonlit night” is more important than we thought. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/39 "2023-02-12T12:22:18Z")
Another one who grew up in the Aplet & Cotlet area, but I thought it was more like the hard candy from France that we bought in Canada. I think I still have some of the La Vosigienne tins around. > **[Amazon.com : La Vie de La Vosgienne Pastillines Hard Candy, 2-Ounce Tins (Pack...](https://www.amazon.com/Vie-Vosgienne-Pastillines-Candy-2-Ounce/dp/B001M0502K)** > > Amazon.com : La Vie de La Vosgienne Pastillines Hard Candy, 2-Ounce Tins (Pack of 10) : French Candy Tin : Grocery & Gourmet Food ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/40 "2023-02-12T12:45:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Looking back on it, I imagine that Jadis had probably never heard of the stuff before and used her magic to conjure up the most delicious thing that Edmund could imagine eating, so it probably wouldn’t matter what the treat was or if it had any resemblance to real Turkish delight. Hm, I never thought of it that way, but it makes sense: Edmund had heard of something called Turkish Delight, but had never tried it, and only imagined what it would taste like, and so what the White Witch gave him tasted how he imagined it would. And Jadis, of course, had never even been in the same dimension as Turkey. Man, if we were disappointed when we first tasted the real thing, imagine how Edmund felt! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630.md?page=3)