Most of the time, when I've had Turkish delight in the past, the main feature is the gelatinous texture. When I've reviewed Turkish delight in the past I often focus on how (or if) the gelatine is smooth, and how it melts in my mouth. The flavour is secondary, and any additional texture doesn’t really play into the treat very much. This Turkish delight is very different, while there is a soft chewy gelatine holding it together, the additional textures and flavours add a whole new dimension to this treat.

Just in case you can't make it out in the photograph, what you have here is a log of Turkish delight, filled with whole pistachios, and covered in rose. The first thing I noticed about this treat is that the rose doesn't just include pieces of petals; there are also several bits of rose leaf covering this sticky treat. I'm not sure how the leaf affects the flavour, but I can tell you that this was one of the most unique rose flavours I've ever sampled.

When you bite into this treat, the first thing that happens is your mouth is filled with rose. The rose is unlike any rose flavoured treat that I've ever had before since it's not a rose water flavour, that can be very sweet, but it was a plant or dried spice rose flavour instead. It was strong, but not as overpowering as many rose waters can be. The Turkish delight itself was sweet with a bit of sour, while I couldn't say that it was perfectly matched to Pomegranate, it did have the right flavour notes. The nuts added a really nice texture to the delight, and were plentiful throughout.

If you want to argue that this isn't "real Turkish delight", I should mention that I bought it in a little shop in Istanbul. While this might not be traditional Turkish delight, as most people know it, I think it's a really great variation that I hope spreads around the world. Comparing this to more common Turkish delight is best described (in candy terms) like comparing a bar of milk chocolate to a Snickers bar. Both are good, but one has more variety of taste and textures.