Turkeys Traditional Confections

Until the discovery of sugar, people satisfied their need for sweets by eating honey as well as fresh and dried fruits and the syrups made from them.

According to legend, when the Persian emperor Darius, who lived in the pre-Christian era, first saw sugar being produced on his conquest of India, he called this sweet liquid obtained from sugar cane bee-less honey. A carefully kept secret, the production of sugar brought its producers big money. According to historians, sugar was initially introduced to the Europeans, who at first dubbed it white salt. Sugar, whose production from sugar cane was a laborious and costly process, was an exotic and tasty yet pricey sweet that was only consumed by wealthy Europeans as a nutrient with medicinal qualities. Loaf sugar in those times was shaved off and sold by the gram like other medicaments. In the period up to the industrial age, sugar remained an expensive substance always hard to come by. The Confectioner's Art Goes West But the Middle Eastern confectioners art gradually spread to the West, in the process far surpassing its contemporary counterparts during the period of Ottoman splendor. The production of hard or rock candy was known in both the East and the Near East prior to the Ottomans. But the Ottomans invented such a fine product that it was as momentous as the discovery of sugar itself. This marvel was known as rahat l-hulkum (contentment of the throat). Later the Ottomans created the miracle called lti lokum and, eventually, just lokum, aka Turkish delight. Lokum In terms of its overall composition, lokum can be defined as a more advanced form of the fruit pastes that are made from pekmez (Turkish grape molasses). Alternatively, it could also be characterized as having been inspired by halvah (sesame paste). Despite a plethora of views about when lokum was first produced, no conclusive date has been ascertained so far. But high quality sugar and starch are known to have been widespread in the Ottoman lands by the 18th century. Any lokum produced prior to that date probably varied widely in quality. Although the making of lokum with its basic ingredients of water, sugar and starch may appear simple, no one apart from the Ottomans was successful in producing it. The leading western confectioners of the period proved unable to produce European lokum despite collaboration with Turkish confectioners in the Ottoman period, which did not prevent Europe from becoming the biggest market for Ottoman lokum. Unable to produce it themselves, the Europeans nevertheless did one very important thing, namely, they marketed the sweet under the name Turkish delight. Rocky Candy Originally known as ada (burnt sugar or caramel) candy in Turkish, this remains one of the most popular products of Turkish confectionery even today. Called ada or akide, both of which derive from the same root, in common parlance it means used for two mutual purposes and harks back to the days of the Janissaries when it was offered following the ceremony that accompanied the quarterly distribution of pay. Known today as akide ekeri, its earlier Ottoman names, like musk of the mouth and macun (paste) are fading slowly into oblivion. But whether in the form of Turkish delight, rock candy or some other form of confection, candy was distributed in previously designated amounts to state offices in the Ottoman period according to a strict protocol.

Gelenein ekerli Tatlar

ekerin icadna kadar insanlar tatl ihtiyacn asrlar iinde taze ve kuru meyveler ve onlardan yaplan ra, pekmez ve baldan salamaktayd.
Efsanelere gre Milattan nce yaayan Pers mparatoru Dariusun Hindistan istilas srasnda ilk defa eker retildiini grdnde kamtan elde edilen tatl svya arsz bal olarak adlandrm. ekerin retimi sr olarak saklanm ve byk paralar kazanlm. Tarihilere gre eker ilk defa Avrupallara tantlm. Avrupallar ilk nce ekere beyaz tuz adn vermiler. eker kamndan retimi hayli zor ve masrafl eker egzotik, pahal lezzetli ve ancak zengin Avrupallarn ila olarak kulland bir besin maddesi gibi tketilmi. O zamanlarda kelle ekeri tralanarak dier ilalar gibi gram olarak satlrm. Dnyann endstriyel aa gelinceye kadar olan dneminde eker daima ulalmas ok pahal bir madde olarak kalm.

Batya Akan Sanat

Orta Dou ekercilik sanatnn birikimleri batya doru akm. Bu aamada Osmanlnn grkemli dnemlerinde ekercilik sanat adalarnn ok zerine km boyuttayd. Akide ekeri yapm Osmanldan nce Orta Dou ve Douda bilinmekteydi. Fakat Osmanllar ylesine bir eker rn icat ettiler ki neredeyse ekerin icad kadar nemliydi. Adna rahat l hulkum (boaz rahatlatan) denildi bu icadn. Daha sonralar lti lokum ve nihayet lokum dedikleri mucizeyi rettiler.

Lokum Lokum genel yaps itibariyle aslnda Anadoluda yaplan pekmez sucuklarnn bir nevi gelimi hali olarak tanmlanabilir. Dier taraftan gelimi bir helva kltrnden esinlenilmi bir rn olarak da tanmlanabilir. Lokumun ilk defa ne zaman retildii hakknda eitli yorumlar bulunmasna ramen kesin bir tarih yok. Ancak kaliteli eker ve niastann Osmanl topraklarnda yaygnlamas 18.yzyl olarak bilinir. Fakat bu tarihlerden nce lokum imalat belki farkl kalitede olsa yaplmaktayd. inde temel olarak su, niasta ve eker bulunan lokumun yapm basit gibi alglanmasna ramen Osmanl dnda yapm baarlamam. Dnemin nemli batl ekerci ustalar ve aratrmaclar Osmanl dneminde stanbuldaki ekerciler ile almalar yapmasna ramen Avrupa lokumu retememi. Buna karlk en ok lokum zellikle Osmanl dnemlerinde Avrupaya satlm. Lokum retemeyen Avrupallarn yapt en nemli ey lokumu Turkish Delight olarak dnyaya markalatrmasdr. Akide ekeri

Akide ekeri nceleri ada ekeri olarak tanmlanm Osmanl ekerciliinin gnmzde hl yaayan keyifli rndr. Tarih iinde ayn kkten gelen ada ve akide kelimeleri halk dilinde

iki ama iin karlkl kullanld bilinmektedir. Akidenin eker olarak tanmlanmas Yenieri Ocanda aylk maalarn dendii ulfe treninden sonra ikram edilmesiyle kltre yerlemi. Gnmzde akide ekeri ne km bir rn olmas nedeniyle Osmanl ekerciliinin dier az miski, peynir ekeri -ki peynirle ilgisi yoktur-, nbet ekeri, macun gibi ekerlemeler unutulmaya balamtr. Gerek lokum, gerekse akide ve dier ekerlemeler Osmanl dneminde makamlara hiyerarik dzene gre belirlenen miktarlarda datlmaktayd.

eker Sugar Bal Honey Lezzet Tast Besin Quality Sanat Art Dou East Niasta Starch Tarih History - Three Peynir Cheese