Not to mention “There was a railway accident” — killing the protagonists for the express purpose of sending them to heaven is a little odd.
I was raised nominally Christian with literally no other information about it, so I enjoyed the books without catching the Christian allegory at all. (All I knew about Jesus is that his parents were God and Mary—I always assumed Mary was a goddess, and was surprisingly incurious about the whole thing.) But even then I was bothered by writing off Susan for growing up, and killing the otherwise innocuous parents.
I firmly believe ALL the books should have been made into films, whether considered ‘unfilmable’ by some, or not. (Like Sue Grafton’s alphabet series, if the last one , ‘Z is for Zero’ hadn’t been completed - there would be a gaping space on the bookshelf.)
Huh, I was raised non-Christian (Jewish, but in a Christian neighborhood) and I feel like I learned a lot about Christianity from those books. I don’t think I recognized it as Christian allegory on the first read, but I did not too long thereafter, when I was still a kid.
I so very badly wanted Narnia to be real, or at least possible, so I had a psychological interest in not examining it too closely from a real-world perspective. My introduction to Christianity was two friends (one Jewish, one Buddhist) playing me Jesus Christ, Superstar in high school, by which point I didn’t need it to be possible quite as badly. The dominoes fell pretty quickly— “Oh, THAT’S why Aslan is rather pointlessly a lamb at the end of Voyage of the Dawn Treader.”
I was an adult before I read it. I looked it up on Google when I first saw the phrase. At first I thought maybe some kind of candy, but had no idea beyond that.
I don’t remember having a specific mental image. I just noted it as some sort of candy I’d never heard of that was obviously incredibly delicious and desirable. When I finally ate some as an adult, I was underwhelmed.
I bought a book that had been carved into the letter Z (it was an old Reader’s Digest Condensed book, so I didn’t mind the mutilation) and I used it as a bookend after Y is for …
At the risk of zombifying this thread, I picked up a box of imported lokum (Cerez Pazari brand) off Amazon recently, which arrived today.
This stuff absolutely blows Liberty Orchards out of the water, and I would sell out my siblings to the White Queen of Narnia in a heartbeat for more of it. The idea of eating rose petals never sounded appealing to me before now, but now it makes perfect sense.
My kids have both been to Japan and came back raving about the rose petal ice cream they had there. I’m not sure why it’s so difficult to get good rose delicacies here, but I suspect it might be too subtle a flavor for the general American palate.
I find the flavor anything but subtle. Tastes like I’m eating potpourri. In a good way, though, but it was definitely odd the first time I came across rose petals or rose water in food.
Just before COVID hit, a Turkish Delight cafe opened up downtown. I was skeptical at first but am now a total fan. The baklava and Turkish coffee helps too. They have a number of flavors that seem like what I understand to be the most traditional execution; small, gelatinous cubes dusted with sugar. But they also have very elaborate preparations with all manner of fillings, dipped coatings and toppings. Check out the options here:
If anyone has any insight as to how that would match up with Turkish Delight as sold in Turkey, I’d love to hear it. In conversation with the folks working the counter, they told me all their baklava is imported from Turkey. I either didn’t ask or forgot as to whether they mentioned the source of the Turkish Delight.
ETA: Never read the Narnia books, but knew about the candy discussion from friends I suppose. If I had any real conception of Turkish Delight in my head, it was lumped in all the terrible old-people candy that I would encounter at any of my great aunts’ houses. I would have guessed not particularly sweet, unconventional flavors, bizarre texture. So essentially, I would have guessed right.
All those cream-filled rolls had me thinking I wouldn’t mind trying it again! Then I hit upon the picture with the unappetizing little cubes of gelatin, and it’s labeled “Narnia Delights”. Ah, forget it.
No argument there. I really enjoy the Italian style nougat, and halvah less so (there’s a sesame seed bitterness sometimes that I don’t like- tahini often has it as well).
The Royal Collection had some special Rose Almond biscuits for the Queen’s birthday a year or two ago, and I was addicted to them. Sadly, they’ve never remade them for any other occasion.
What? Circus Peanuts are good candy. I love the banana-ish flavor of them, and the pale orangeness and voluptuous curvy shapes with the nifty peanut shell pattern on top, and their crumbly dense marshmallow texture (it melts in your mouth and it’s chewy!).
What’s not to love about Circus Peanuts? It’s like not liking Chicken Cordon Bleu.
I’ve been spoiled for most baklava by the mom of a couple of children who attended my school. I think the only time I ever met the mom was the day she and her husband first registered the kids. She didn’t speak much English, if any, and I don’t know a word of Farsi, so we didn’t chat. But just before every winter break, that lovely woman sent a box of the most heavenly homemade baklava I’ve ever tasted. It had light flaky pastry layered with honey and pistachio filling and flavored lightly with rosewater and just a hint of citrus. I was so sad to see her youngest go off to high school! I just hope the office staff there were nice enough to her to get the fringe benefits. (The kids were nice girls, too.)
