Turkish Cotton Candy Pismaniye
06/10 By Zerrin 2 Comments
Pismaniye is a dessert you might love or hate! You find yourself in a big mess when eating it. You think you pick a little of it with your two fingers, but you have to take more as the super thin strands stick to the rest just like cotton. If you lick your fingers to remove the stickiness and then take some more, you will understand what I mean with mess.
Pismaniye, which is also called floss halva, is a Turkish cotton candy with various types. Halva is pulled into strands with a special method. It is mostly produced in Kocaeli, Izmit.
You can find pismaniye coated with chocolate, topped with pistachio or walnuts and flavored with vanilla or chocolate. There is also a more buttery version which is called Saray Helvasi- Palace Halva. This one isn’t easily pulled apart, so you should prefer this one if you find it difficult to eat regular pismaniye.
This cotton candy has an interesting role in Turkish culture; it’s not one of those desserts you go buy from dessert shops or patisseries. I don’t know why but it becomes a special food you buy when travelling. You can buy packaged Turkish cotton candy pismaniye in every single store on the way to your destination when travelling. It has become like a tradition to buy one or two packages of pismaniye from these stores and take it as a gift to your family or friends at your destination.
Although this cotton candy is a simple dessert with 3 basic ingredients; sugar, butter and flour, making it requires a special talent, so nobody makes it at home. You can watch this video to see how it is made.
