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"Lokum" is a traditional sweet made of sugar and starch.
It is believed that the production goes back to the XVth
century and it achieved its final recipe during the
XIXth century. Formerly honey and condensed must were
used together with flour for its consistency. When the
importation of sugar was initiated at the end of the
XIXth century, it became the basical ingredient for the
"lokum" confection and later the flour was also replaced
by wheat starch.
Today the ingredients of "lokum" are certain amounts of
sugar, corn starch and water, boiled for a certain time,
together with some fruits or nuts or any other flavour.
The cooking time differsbetween 1 to 2 hours, depending
onthe size of the boiler. The thick substance is then
poured into special wooden trayssprinkled with corn
starch; it is also sprinkled on top. It stands from 24
to 48 hours until it gets cool and has a flexible
consistency. Then the starch is brushed off, it is
sprinkled with powdered sugar and cut up into small
cubes.
Apart from the plain "lokum", there exists a great
variety with fruits such as strawberries, cherries,
lemon or orange, with nuts such as pistachios, walnuts
or almonds, and other flavours such as mastic, vanilla,
coconut, mint, milk cream or rose water. In the
provinces, there are many other local types of "lokum".
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