Fry's English Delight

Posted by Baceseras on August 27, 2009 at 20:23

In Reply to: Fry's English Delight posted by RRC on August 25, 2009 at 18:35:

: : : The last episode in Stephen Fry's radio series on language went out on the BBC today, complete with a small contribution from me. It was based on the various greeting words we have in English, notably 'hello'. The programme is online at [Dead link removed - ed] if you fancy a listen.

: : : The series title is a nice pun for us here in the UK. Less so if Fry's Turkish Delight chocolate bars aren't sold where you live.

: : That is so cool! (Turkish Taffy, but no Turkish Delight where I live.)

: Much much less so, it brings a bad taste and memories of bitter bitter disappointment. I like to refer to Turkish delight "C. S. Lewis's cruel, cruel joke on American children".
: Americans like their candy sweet and not flavored with flowers (Fry's is rose) or tree sap (mastic). Dipping said anti-candy in chocolate to take one by surprise is completely unfair. Also, finding an unknown green hard bit can be rather scary. Even if you like pistachios, they don't stay particularly fresh during overseas shipping even when embedded in an art eraser-like material.

[Americans who think Turkish Delight is hard to come by here should be made aware that the widely sold Aplets and Cotlets, from Liberty Orchards in Washington state, is an adaptation of the sweet introduced by a couple of industrious Armenian immigrants in the 1920s. Since then they've added other confections to their line, some closer to the "original" Turkish Delight. I have no connection whatsoever to the company and expect no compensation for this friendly plug. www.libertyorchards.com/ aboutus - Bac.]