Turkish delight is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties
consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional
varieties are often flavored with rosewater, mastic gum, bergamot orange, or lemon.The confection
is often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing sugar, copra, or powdered cream of
tartar to prevent clinging. Other common flavors include cinnamon and mint. In the production process,
soapwort may be used as an emulsifying additive.The origin of Turkish delight is not precisely known,
but the confection is known to have been produced in Turkey and Iran (Persia)as early as the late 18th
century. The Turkish names lokma and lokum are derived from the Arabic word and its plural meaning
'morsel' and 'mouthful and the alternative Ottoman Turkish name, was an Arabic formulation,
meaning 'comfort of the throat', which remains the name in formal Arabic.In Libya, Saudi
Arabia, Algeria and Tunisia it is known as ḥalqūm, while in Kuwait it is called kabdat alfaras;
in Egypt it is called malban and in Lebanon and Syria rāḥa Its name in various Eastern European
languages comes from Ottoman Turkish lokum or . Its name in Greek,shares a similar etymology with
the modern Turkish and it is marketed as Greek Delight. In Cyprus, where the dessert has protected
geographical indication it is also marketed as Cyprus Delight. In Armenian it is called lokhum.
It is läoma in Assyrian. Its name in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Israel is rahat lokum,and derives
from a very old confusion of the two names found already in Ottoman Turkish; indeed this mixed
name can also be found in Turkey today. Its name in Serbo-Croatian is ratluk, a reduced form
of the same name. In Persian, it is called rāhat-ol-holqum In the Indian subcontinent,
a variant of it is known as Karachi halwa or Bombay halwa.(https://ottofistik.com/collections/turkish-delight)