Why Writing, Turkish Delight and Authenticity Make for Unlikely Bed Fellows
Originally published in Beloved Magazine here
Have you ever tried Turkish Delight? I’m sure many of us are familiar with the sweets that adorn many shop shelves all over the globe. Here in South Africa, you can find this delicacy easily. Looking like a solid gelatinous square, the most common flavour is rose water and orange. It’s also usually dusted with powdered sugar, or some are covered in chocolate. Whatever the form, that is the Turkish Delight I grew up with, tried a few times, but didn’t really like. It was too sweet for my taste. However, when I made my way to Turkey during my “summer” vacation in 2019, I tasted the real thing for the first time, and was instantly hooked.
Turkish Delight and Authenticity
At the time, I was teaching in China and knew my wandering days were coming to an end. While I had thoroughly enjoyed my time abroad, the end of my career stared me in the face. I felt it in my bones that change was in the air. I had no idea what was next, but I knew I wanted to have one more chance to visit another country during my vacation time. I wanted to go to Italy. Visiting Tuscany has always been one of my bucket list items. However, after I priced everything, the realisation hit that I simply couldn’t afford the trip. A friend and I started chatting and we decided to look at Turkey.
From the minute our research started, I was excited. Not only was the visa process ridiculously easy, but prices were also far cheaper, and there were a lot of cultural sites to visit, plus all the delicious food on offer. I was especially looking forward to having lots of hummus, baklava and other Middle Eastern types of delicacies. When friends started hearing about my plans,I was of course advised about other foods to try out. Turkish ice cream was one of them, and as I delved deeper into what to eat, my excitement levels increased. The internet rendered nougat and Turkish Delight as a must try and after I saw some images of these sweets, I knew there was no way I would want to pass up the opportunity to try some.
When we arrived in Turkey, it was early in the morning, and since we couldn’t check into our hotel, we had to while away the time until our rooms were available. Luckily the hotel owner was quite friendly and told us we could go up to the breakfast room and have breakfast. We were overjoyed and spent about 2 hours there. Then we took to the streets and explored our neighborhood. We had picked a great place – it was close to the biggest attractions in Istanbul. Everything was within walking distance, which saved us a ton on cab fare. We also discovered the tram service and used that a few times while we were out and about.
During our meandering through the streets, we did discover some of the shops that sell Turkish Delight. They were bright and enticing with multicoloured logs of delight. From pistachio flavoured ones, to matcha, and even the familiar rose flavours, the displays invited you in and you simply couldn’t resist. The shop owners share samples with potential customers, making them linger in the shop for a long time – especially when it comes to choosing some to buy. We got our taste of real Turkish delight, and I suddenly knew that nothing comes close to the real deal, or the authentic taste of the delicacy.
Write to Unearth the Real You
That is how I came to realise that writing can also help you uncover the authentic you. It helps to dig through all the layers of what you have acquired over the years due to conditioning, wounding and expectations to expose that real deal hidden underneath, waiting to be savoured and discovered. Writing brings you home to yourself and helps you to uncover your inner truths – the original, untarnished version before you got sullied
by artificial additives that make you less you, but more acceptable to the outside world. Writing has certainly helped me, and still helps me every day to connect to myself, uncover and talk about my inner core, and that’s why writing, Turkish delight and authenticity make for good, but unlikely bedfellows.