Glam Halal | May-June . 2022
Savouring Turkish delights My Turkish Delight brings a variety of sweets to Malaysia
BY FATIHAH MANAF
TURKEY IS one of the most popular travel destinations that offers its visitors many exciting places to visit . Besides Turkey ’ s rich cultural and historical background , its dishes and delights are also among its main attractions .
“ Turkish delights have always been Mahfuz ’ s favourite ,” said Nazmin Muhamed Nazeer , co-founder of My Turkish Delight , a Malaysian brand that offers its customers a variety of Turkish sweets .
Mahfuz Khawarizmi , the brand ’ s founder , said what started as a side hustle in 2018 for the husband and wife turned out to be a fulltime business . According to Nazmin , she had the chance to try the delights for the first time when the couple went on their honeymoon in Turkey .
“ We didn ’ t expect such an overwhelming response from Malaysian customers as we thought of only doing the business part-time . But now , it has become a full-time job for us ,” said Mahfuz .
Turkish delights with Malaysian flavours
Mahfuz explained that My Turkish Delight ’ s products were all imported from Turkey , but they decided to adjust the taste according to Malaysian preference .
“ We import all the delights from Turkey , but we customise them according to Malaysian flavours . We make it less sweet and softer according to our taste palates .
“ The delights will taste sweeter there because Turkish people consume their drinks without sugar . We already consume a lot of sugar ; I need to reduce the sweetness level ,” stated Mahfuz .
Nazmin added : “ If you go to their bazaar , you will find these Turkish delights , but they taste sweeter . Even the texture is different .
“ So , Mahfuz would go directly to the manufacturer , and they would manufacture the products according to Malaysian taste .”
Their best-selling products are rose petal icing sugar , pistachio , Nutella Baklava , and Biscoff Baklava .
“ Customers who want something different will go for roses . Nutella Baklava and Biscoff Baklava are our biggest hits . Kids love Biscoff Baklava . The elderly will usually go for nuts .”
Mahfuz evealed that they were continuously experimenting with their products to introduce new flavours to the customers .
“ We want to bring what Malaysians like , such as Oreo and Kinder Bueno flavours . Last year , I was supposed to launch our Sambal Nasi Lemak flavour , but it was still in R & D . We want customers to try the differences in taste between the flavours .”
Focus on quality and freshness
To avoid their products from becoming too dry when they arrived in Malaysia , Mahfuz said they would cut them in advance in Turkey .
“ We precut the delights in Turkey and do not do any handling in Malaysia . Normally , when you cut them in Malaysia , they will become too dry . We do not want this to happen ,” explained Mahfuz .
He also stated that the products need to be stored at a specific humidity level to keep their freshness . Having humidifiers installed at their place , Mahfuz then showed @ GlamHalal an application on his smartphone that they used to monitor and control the temperature of the storage room .
“ The shelf life of our products is six months . However , we will finish them at My Turkish Delight within three months .
“ I ’ ll go to the manufacturer three months once to check the quality . Our supplier also supplies worldwide to Italy and Germany . We get the products from a reputable manufacturer to ensure the quality .
“ If the products are not up to our standards , we will reject them . We will also comment on what they can improve .”
Nazmin then shared that they tried to bring Baklava from Turkey , but it was hard to keep them fresh .
“ So , we have our Turkish chef here who will prepare the Baklava fresh ,” said Nazmin .
Serving the best to customers
Nazmin said My Turkish Delight would prepare catalogues that allow customers to pick and customise their orders .
“ Some people can be allergic to some of the