Lokum

Basically, Lokum is a kind of sweets made in rectangular or round strips and they are cut into smaller pieces for sale. There are many variations in flavours such as rose, lemon, mint,…. covered on the outside with coconut powder, chocolate or nuts.

Lokum appeared in 1776, invented by a confectioner at Istanbul called Bekir Effendi. Lokum is the short form of Rahat lokhoum meaning "give the throat comfort ".

Safranbolu (番紅花城), a town in the Black Sea region of Turkey, is famous for gold quality lokum in relatively cheap prices. There are a great many choices of lokum there too.

The lokum sold at the Old Bazaar duty free shop at Istanbul Airport are terribly sweet, expensive and marked in Euros.

It is interesting that lokum appears in the film, Narnia, in which the white witch gave the small child a red piece of lokum to eat.