Every time I think of Turkish Delight, I think of the animated The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which I watched when I as around 10 or 11. Edmund, of black heart, is lured by the evil Queen, and sits in her sleigh gorging on Turkish and emptying steaming cups of hot choco. Now, I know it was a cartoon, but oh my, those Turkish Delights just made my mouth water (still does in fact when I think back on that scene in the film)! So, it was my quest and continues to be, to search high and low for this imaginary, utterly delicious Delight which I believe to exist. There is some mechanical function in my brain that goes off each time I see a box of Turkish D. It's some sort of alarm that goes off, and I am COMPELLED to buy a box. I MUST try it, I must find that elusive heavenly Turkish Delight...I can always almost taste it, the sort of taste that makes you close your eyes and savor every last piece as you nibble tiny bits very slowly in your mouth. And always, it ends in disaster!
To prove my point, yesterday afternoon, I came across two different boxes of the stuff. One was a slightly bigger box than the other and both were "Rose and Lime" flavored. Of course, I had to have both - what if they tasted different? Then, I discovered they are both made by "Ling". Same maker, different packaging, both 300 grams each. Duh-o! Anyway, I was determined that they would taste heavenly. I open the first box, and there they sit, covered in their sugary veil. I pick one up and sink my teeth in. I felt like I was eating bulgarian otto rose essence! I know, it was "Rose" flavored, but really - an attar of roses? I wonder what the dilution is?! Of course, I was less than thrilled, then there were nasty amber miniscule bits of hard jelly in the lemon part (the cube is half rose-pink, half lemon-clear) which were impossible to chew and I ended up spitting them out.
Really, memories do a diservice sometimes. The first time I ever had Rahat Loukoum was when I was 5 or 6. My family and I were living in Iran and we had been invited to a native dinner. The lamb was less than appetizing, the tea in glasses with silver bottoms and sugar cubes was very interesting, but the Loukoum was heavenly! I suppose that memory along with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the romantic name Rahat Loukoum fuels my never-ending quest for Delight. I've never learned, and I suppose, I will continue to waste money on trying to re-capture an elusive memory of something that perhaps, doesn't even exist.
8:18 AM | |
