# 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:** 3
**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, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/41 "2023-02-12T13:32:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And Jadis, of course, had never even been in the same dimension as Turkey. She did briefly wind up in London during the events of _The Magician’s Nephew_, but I don’t think she had much time to peruse the sweetshop while she was there. It’s probably for the best that both attempts to adapt the Narnia books for the screen fizzled out after the first few installments; that book, and The Last Battle, would have been nigh unfilmable. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/42 "2023-02-12T13:46:43Z")
I also thought it was some kind of cubic taffy, and assumed it was magicked in an addictive way that didn’t really require it to have a great flavor. In fact, I remember not even being sure it actually existed, vs. being something he made up. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/43 "2023-02-12T14:34:32Z")
So, you’re saying Turkish Delight is not the same as a Happy Ending? My childhood reading now seems less colorful. 🙁 I never had Turkish Delight, but I did get a lot of [Turkish Taffy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Taffy) in my Halloween bag as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/44 "2023-02-12T15:34:30Z")
I’ve never read any of the Narnia books, but the first time I came across the term “Turkish Delight,” I thought of something pistachio and/or honey based, maybe fudge-like. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/45 "2023-02-12T16:13:42Z")
I was a weird kid, and had Turkish Delight by the time I was 6 or 7. At the time, I’d rather have had some Haribo gummy bears, but the TD was passable. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/46 "2023-02-12T19:37:12Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > So, you’re saying Turkish Delight is not the same as a Happy Ending? My childhood reading now seems less colorful. 🙁 > > I never had Turkish Delight, but I did get a lot of [Turkish Taffy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Taffy) in my Halloween bag as a kid. [Sounds like you two had the same idea.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ00ym7Gt-M&t=59s) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/47 "2023-02-12T19:40:37Z")
I’m not sure I had any clear idea of what it was except a really yummy candy. As such, I was totally psyched the first time I got to try it. Hated it. Hated it so much it diminished my enjoyment of the book. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/48 "2023-02-12T19:50:28Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > 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](https://www.amazon.com/Vie-Vosgienne-Pastillines-Candy-2-Ounce/dp/B001M0502K) I used to have a ton of those tins. I used them to store my necklaces (after them being well cleaned out) when I was in high school and college. There was a shop in Westwood Village (adjacent to UCLA) called Tomnoddy Faire. They must have have 10 or 12 different flavours. I liked the violet onces. ---
**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 12, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/49 "2023-02-12T23:18:09Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Hated it. Hated it so much it diminished my enjoyment of the book. To me it just reinforces how much of a prat that Edmund was. ---
**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 12, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/50 "2023-02-12T23:23:41Z")
There was a great moment in the movie when Tilda Swinton taunts him: “You betrayed your family – _for sweeties_.” ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/51 "2023-02-12T23:58:33Z")
As a kid, I didn’t have any idea, I just knew it was probably some kind of old-school candy. As an adult, I think I just assumed it was something along the lines of halvah or Italian-style nougat. Something old-school and not as intensely sweet as modern confections. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/52 "2023-02-13T00:09:12Z")
> [@bump](#): > > something along the lines of halvah or Italian-style nougat. Both of those are much better than turkish delight. I wouldn’t mind either of them right now. ---
**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 14, 2023, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/53 "2023-02-14T00:28:43Z")
Well this is interesting. I mentioned this thread to my mom, because she’s the one who introduced me to Narnia. Well, she recently went on a vacation to Greece and Turkey. She says that they were served Turkish Delight in Greece, and it was the rosewater gelatin stuff that we’re all talking about… but they were also served something called Turkish Delight in Turkey, and that was a confection of honey, nuts, and shredded wheat. So maybe all the folks who were thinking of baklava weren’t so far off, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/54 "2023-02-14T00:36:53Z")
I just went back to the cartoon version I watched as a kid (neighbours had it on video). The Turkish Delight scene is at 18:24. It’s very clearly a chocolate / candy box with vaguely pink things in it. So I guess from this I must have read the book before I saw the cartoon, even though I _feel_ that the cartoon came first. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CP5uXoNf7Nc/hqdefault.jpg "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe 1979") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP5uXoNf7Nc) ---
**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 16, 2023, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/55 "2023-02-16T04:19:10Z")
Now I’m curious to try aplets and cotlets. ---
**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 16, 2023, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/56 "2023-02-16T08:49:37Z")
I don’t care for them mainly because the one from Liberty Orchards include walnuts and those are low on my list of favorite tree nuts. For the same reason I much prefer the variety of baklava that has pistachios rather than walnuts. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/57 "2023-02-16T09:19:21Z")
As a child of the 70s and 80s in England I was already familiar with it, but more often of the ‘Fry’s’ chocolate covered variety. Never was a mad fan of it, something of an acquired taste. My Dad loves the sugar powdered ‘proper’ variety, so we always had it around the house at Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/58 "2023-02-16T09:38:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s probably for the best that both attempts to adapt the Narnia books for the screen fizzled out after the first few installments; that book, and The Last Battle, would have been nigh unfilmable. I haven’t read the books for twenty years, so my memory is a bit hazy, but what in particular do you think is unfilmable about these two? Surely the scenery and magic would pose no problem with today’s CGI, so I can only imagine you think it’s something to do with the plot, or maybe that the more overtly Christian elements of the books wouldn’t play well with today’s audiences. Getting back to the OP’s question, though, I read the books before I first had Turkish Delight, but I did both so long ago that I don’t remember if my impression of the sweet matched my expectations. Here in Europe it’s easy to get authentic Turkish Delight (not simply from Turkey but from anywhere in the Balkans or Middle East—it’s all pretty much the same, and delicious). ---
**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 16, 2023, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/59 "2023-02-16T10:03:48Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Surely the scenery and magic would pose no problem with today’s CGI, so I can only imagine you think it’s something to do with the plot, or maybe that the more overtly Christian elements of the books wouldn’t play well with today’s audiences. The rise of the (subtly Muslim and portrayed by a monkey) Antichrist, the Eschaton as performed by talking animals, the physical end of the world, and the kids following Lion Jesus physically into Heaven, which exactly resembles Edwardian England? It’s less a matter of “you can’t film it” than “you _shouldn’t_ film it”. ---
**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 16, 2023, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/60 "2023-02-16T12:38:40Z")
The 'Muslims are evil" is not something I’d want to see in a modern film. But heaven only looked (at first) like Edwardian England because it looked like their home, or at least, the home of their childhood, which was Edwardian England. And they soon broke out of that into “tame” wilderness, at least in my recollection. I think those mountains could have been in the US. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630.md?page=4)