Raha (Syrian Turkish delight)

Raha is the Syrian name for Ottoman Turkish delight; in full it is rahat al-hulqum, “comfort of the throat”. It is a gel of starch and sugar, scented with rose water, mastic, bergamot or lemon. Anyone who knows Turkish delight will recognise the taste. The difference lies in two places: the name, and the Hauran habit of eating it between biscuits.

Where it is made

The Hauran, and the city of Daraa in particular, is known for making raha, both in family workshops and in machine-run factories. Homs also counts it among its traditional sweets, and there people call it tatli.

The kinds

The most common are plain raha and raha with mastic. There are also versions flavoured with fruit or flowers, versions with pistachios, walnuts or almonds, and versions with coconut. In Homs a kind worked with pistachios and almonds is mentioned.

How it is eaten

With tea or coffee. In the Hauran it is common to put a piece of raha between two plain biscuits and make a simple sweet out of it.

It is not malban

In Egypt Turkish delight is called malban. In the Levant the same name is also used for a fruit leather made from grape molasses and semolina; Aleppo’s walnut sujuk belongs to that family. If you are looking for Turkish delight in Syria, the word to ask for is raha.