In Narnia, it is РІР‚Сљalways winter and never Christmas,РІР‚Сњ a product of the White WitchРІР‚в„ўs evil magic. It makes sense that Turkish delight would have been on LewisРІР‚в„ўs brain as he crafted a book where Christmas features as a main theme. Perhaps this is why it became so significant to Lewis? As he welcomed refugee children into his Oxford neighborhood, he thought back on the candies and holidays that had marked his own childhood. Of course just as costs had gone down, the outbreak of World War II and its subsequent rationing meant that the candy was harder than ever to come by. Thus, if you wanted real Delight, you had to import it from Turkey, which got expensive fast, so that it became a marker of either status or indulgence in much the way the way coffee had a century earlier.

Made from a confection of rose oil and sugar, the candy is simple on paper, but proves extremely difficult to make РІР‚вЂњ no matter how Western Europeans tried, they never quite replicated it. As with so many things in pop culture, the answer lies in the context, and since weРІР‚в„ўre living in a beautiful future, an academic article has stepped in to tell us all about the importance of Delight.Р”Р„ccording to food critic Cara Strickland, the Turkish sweet cast an intoxicating spell over late-Victorian England. The question of Turkish Delight often becomes still more perplexing when a young Narnia fan actually eats the stuff, and finds that it does not live up to EdmundРІР‚в„ўs rapturous praises. From an article a couple years ago regarding this exact question:

Also consider that food in general was less sugar packed than many of the options we have today, so many foods at the time that we might consider 'disappointing' would have had a much different impression of the people of their time. Rationings were in effect in WWII England, and Turkish Delights were a particular delicacy that was popular at the time and hard to come by. It's helpful to consider in context of the time.

Turkish delight narnia asmr