The iconic Hadji Bey’s Turkish Delight was a Cork speciality for many years until production ceased in the 1970s, and was recently revived by Hazelbrook Confectionery of Newbridge, Co Kildare.
This delicious and beautifully packaged product in re-usable boxes has been welcomed back to Cork as one of their own and is available from selected stockists, chocolate shops and several stalls at the English Market including Paradise Garden - but it is also well distributed at speciality stores throughout Ireland and you may spot it in some unexpected places, such as Sheridans Cheesemongers.
Although the crème de menthe version has not been continued, it’s available in Original Rose and Rahat Lokoum (rose, orange and lemon flavours) and the lovely, nostalgically designed gift packs include an article on Hadji Bey's Turkish Delight first published in The Guardian in 1964.
The Hadji Bey brand was established in the early 1900s by an Armenian immigrant, Harutun Batmazian, who set up his famous sweet shop on MacCurtain Street in Cork, emblazoned 'Hadji Bey et Cie'. His products were loved throughout Ireland, and the business thrived until the retirement of Harutun’s son Eddie in the 1970s.
In 2019 two new products were added to the confectionery range: crystallised stem ginger and fruit jellies. The ginger sweets, made with only two ingredients, ginger and cane sugar, are an old recipe that has been revived and the fruit jellies are made with pectin rather than gelatin, which gives them a soft, less chewy texture.
The products were much missed, so the revival of the brand by LC (later Hazelbrook) Confectionery in 2010 was very welcome - and any of the current product range would make a great gift.
