# 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:** 5
**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:** [March 23, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/81 "2023-03-23T23:10:22Z")
Reminds me of one of the kids in my Explorer Post. We like having special meetings at his house, because his mom made the best egg rolls in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/82 "2023-03-23T23:36:28Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > 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. This is what I thought - this is also what I would buy on the walk to elementary school (and who does that, today) in the early 50’s. “Oh, oh, oh, it’s Bonomos’…caaan-dy!” Local radio, Baltimore… Dan ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/83 "2023-03-23T23:43:29Z")
I already knew. I was introduced to it at a Serbian cultural event that my Serbian family attended (Serbian cuisine includes Turkish influences). I like Turkish Delight / Lokum (in Serbian “Ratluk”) a lot, especially the rose-flavored variety. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/84 "2023-04-01T17:01:23Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > all the terrible old-people candy that I would encounter at any of my great aunts’ houses. It just occurred to me for the first time in my adult life: Most oldsters probably don’t have candy often, but when they do, the good stuff is consumed relatively quickly, and what you find when you visit is all that’s left. They didn’t like it all that much either. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/85 "2023-04-11T10:43:26Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > “If you read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a child, then finally tasted it, you may be entitled to compensation.” That’s why I thought it was code for pu$$y. She was giving him a bit of the old ‘turkish delight’, if you know what I mean. Tastes so good you just might betray your family. And this has happened in real life. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2023, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/86 "2023-04-11T12:27:23Z")
Eh, he was what, eight years old? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/87 "2023-04-11T12:52:47Z")
I’m sorry, I didn’t really think that. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/88 "2023-04-11T13:06:06Z")
I was very certain it was something like this: > **[need: 1¾ | Pineapple delight, Dessert recipes easy, Pineapple dessert recipes](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/142356038210331337/)** > > Jun 13, 2022 - A buttery crust, cream cheese, fluffy whipped cream, and pineapple make this pineapple delight a dreamy tropical dessert that you'll love. Was extremely disappointed to learn that it’s just mildly flavored gumdrops. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/89 "2024-07-10T21:21:49Z")
I missed this thread last year, but it was just linked to here: > [@The most disappointing dessert](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disappointing-dessert/1003971/60): > > We had a thread on Turkish delight not that long ago Where i posted Perhaps that was the most disappointing dessert i ever had. In that thread there was an interesting article: > **[C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction Was Convincing American Kids That They Would...](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cs-lewis-greatest-fiction-convincing-american-kids-that-they-would-like-turkish-delight)** > > What would the perfect fantasy treat look like? Depending on where you're from, probably not this. Towards the end of the article, it mentions the fact that the book doesn’t actually say that Turkish Delight is a candy, and that some readers thought it was something else entirely, like turkey with stuffing, for example. For some reason, that’s how it was for me when I first read TLTWTW in 5th grade. I imagined it as being a savory hot delicious entree, like the Hungarian goulash I’ve had once in my life, or homemade German meatloaf with brown gravy. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/90 "2024-07-10T21:29:25Z")
I imagined it was like Turkish Delight, only much much better. There’s a Turkish take out restaurant in the next town that sells like six flavors. It’s not much like anything Americans eat, but I like it. Not betray my family and condemn Narnia to another thousand years of winter like it, but it’s not bad. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/91 "2024-07-10T22:12:24Z")
I think i imagined caramel, but more delicious. It was described as being packaged in a box and making Edmund’s hands sticky. I always assumed it was a sweet, not a savory. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/92 "2024-07-10T23:10:16Z")
I always imagined it like the Big Hunk candy bar, which was a rather tasteless white taffy with a few peanuts (?) strewn in. Didn’t appeal to me than or now (knowing what it actually is – rather too sweet for my taste). ---
**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:** [July 11, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/93 "2024-07-11T01:17:34Z")
I loooove good halvah. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/94 "2024-07-11T01:37:38Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I later found out that it’s **extremely** similar. It is. I used to like honeycomb sponge candy- so I thought it was like that but without the chocolate covering. > [@Ponderoid](#): > > I too thought it was similar to caramel, until many years later I saw this Hilarious but for me it would be chocolate truffles. I used to think Sweetmeats had meat in them. But they are kinda like Turkish delight- or one version is. But remember- this was WW2 Britain, and the kids hadnt got chocolate or even hardly any sugar in a while. > [@Smapti](#): > > 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? Yesm but that is just the Last battle, The Magicians Nephew could be filmed. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > The funny thing is that she also gave him hot cocoa, which is legitimately delicious, but it’s the Turkish delight he wanted. Well, the good stuff certainly is. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Not to mention “There _was_ a railway accident” — killing the protagonists for the express purpose of sending them to heaven is a little odd. No, I dont think they were killed on purpose, just that it did occur. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > But even then I was bothered by writing off Susan for growing up, and killing the otherwise innocuous parents. I assumed the parents died in the War. But Susan is just temporarily out- she didnt die, and she isnt into that any more. Later on well "Once a King or Queen of Narnia- always a King or Queen of Narnia.) Narnia waits her or that version of heaven- if she wants. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I was raised nominally Christian with literally no other information about it, so I enjoyed the books without catching the Christian allegory at all. Same here, but I read the Last Battle later, after I had read about the Christian allegories, and in that book, they are more obvious. > [@carrps](#): > > I always imagined it like the Big Hunk candy bar, Dentists delight. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2024, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/95 "2024-07-11T02:07:26Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I loooove good halvah. Oh, me, too. There was a deli near us when I was a kid. We went there a lot when I was in high school. Roll n’ Rye. I loved their pastrami burger – a double decker hamburger with a beef patty on one layer and a generous helping of pastrami on the other. Yum. And I always got some halvah as we left – it was right by the cash register. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/96 "2024-07-11T02:12:42Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > To me it just reinforces how much of a prat that Edmund was. A prat with an incredible redemption arc. Not unlike his cousin Eustace. These kids grew up in London during the Blitz. Given their likely food/dessert options, Edmund would have rolled over for a box of Milk-Duds. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2024, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/97 "2024-07-11T02:13:33Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > > > Not to mention “There _was_ a railway accident” — killing the protagonists for the express purpose of sending them to heaven is a little odd. > > No, I dont think they were killed on purpose, just that it did occur. I meant that C. S. Lewis, the author, killed them by writing that they died; I don’t think the author could have done that accidentally. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/98 "2024-07-11T02:45:24Z")
I always read it as God caused the train crash so that all the dead people could come to Narnia. Pretty mean spirited of him, I always thought. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/99 "2024-07-11T03:10:39Z")
I didn’t bother thinking about exactly what Turkish Delight was. I just vaguely imagined something between Turkish taffy and divinity fudge. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630/100 "2024-07-11T03:30:35Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I think i imagined caramel, but more delicious. It was described as being packaged in a box and making Edmund’s hands sticky. I always assumed it was a sweet, not a savory. I remember reading that Edmund ate it with his hands, but nevertheless still thought it was savory when I read it as a kid. After all, eating fried chicken can also result in sticky hands. I think the Turkish part of the name threw me for some reason as a ten-year-old. On a separate note…in honor of this thread, I pulled out some actual Turkish Delight I had in the pantry that I was gifted about 18 months ago from another Narnia fan. (The “best before” date is Dec 2024.) I was not all that impressed when first tried it, but apparently it’s grown on me and is actually pretty good—and rather exotic too. This batch is made by “[Hacizade](https://www.hacizade.com/)”, and is an actual product of Turkey. They have been in business since 1870, so this may be quite similar to what C.S. Lewis envisioned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-turkish-delight-was-when-you-first-read-narnia/979630.md?page=6)