Turkish Delight and Again With the Baklava

I’ve lived this long without ever trying Turkish delight. I assumed it was something like marzipan – either you love it or you hate it. So I decided to visit Gullouglu to pick up some of their world famous signature baklava and try some authentic Turkish delight.

From this gracious, family-owned bakery and shop I picked up an assortment of fruit-flavored Turkish delight, also called lokum. Turkish delight is made by slowly cooking a mixture of sugar syrup and cornstarch for several hours, then letting the mixture set and cutting it into cubes. (Think Jello shots). The squares are then rolled in a light dusting of confectioner’s sugar. Common flavors include rose, orange, lemon and mint. About the size of one-inch squares, Turkish delight reminds me of a mild, fresh gumdrop with less of it trapped between my teeth. I would assume that the Turkish delight from Gulluoglu is some of the better, more authentic stuff out there, but it may be too delicate for my brutish palette, and left me less than delighted.

Or perhaps this is because the baklava at Gulloglu is so mind-alteringly delicious. Row after row of their pristine pastries are displayed in cases at the front of the shop with customers backing up to peer at them when they enter. Each luxuriously melting piece of baklava is comprised of thirty individual sheets of phyllo, and Gulloglu offers both pistachio and walnut-filled versions. At first I wasn’t sure I liked the more unusual, earthy walnut baklava, but after a few squares, I started to like it much more. The Gullugolu company began in 1871 in the town of Gaziantep in Turkey. The pistachio used in their products is the notable boz pistachio from Barak, a region of Turkey. The Brooklyn cafe was their first American location and their products are shipped from Turkey and baked fresh there each day.

Gulluoglu is well worth a trip to pick up some sweets to go (try the Turkish delight!), or relax with some baklava
and a Turkish coffee or an aryan, the oddly refreshing salty yogurt drink. They also have savory Turkish specialties like tost, a grilled kashkaval cheese sandwich or filled phyllo pastries called su boregi.

Gulloglu Baklava and Cafe
1985 Coney Island Avenue

Originally posted on Until Monday: Brooklyn.