Istanbul eats: Osmanli Macunu

I had to search online for its Turkish name, because none of the signs we saw actually read: Osmanlı Macunu. I mean were there even signs? I can only recall the deep, divided dish with its (undoubtedly) toothache-inducing multi-colored contents.

To be honest, I wasn’t tempted by the colorful, sticky sweet nor was I drawn by the street vendors’ loud cries, “traditional Ottoman sweet! Traditional Turkish! Classic Ottoman candy! Come try!”

But the bright colors must have appealed to my teenage sister because on our way back to the hotel one night, she suddenly cried, “do you have money? I want to try this!”

And I was very encouraging. Mainly because I’ve been dying to take photos of this dyed-sugar-on-a-stick-thing. I just had no idea how fast the process was and had to hurriedly snap photos as the man skillfully coiled one tinged layer on top of another.

This traditional Ottoman candy is basically melted sugar. In other words: boring! I would opt for pistachio dondurma (ice cream) over this any day.

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Tags: candy, colorful, food, Istanbul, macunu, Ottoman, street, sugar, Sultanahmet, sweet, tourists, traditional, Turkey

• 30 November, 2011
• Travel
• 3 comments