Hacı Bekir: Lokum Since 1777
Why is it significant?
Stop at the window and let your eyes adjust: neat pyramids of lokum dusted with sugar, rose pink, pistachio green, lemon yellow, and jars of glassy boiled sweets glowing like stained glass. The name over the door is Hacı Bekir, and it carries more history than any other name in this market.
Key Facts
| Place | Hacı Bekir: Lokum Since 1777 |
|---|---|
| Address | Muvakkithane Caddesi No:6, Caferağa, 34710 Kadıköy/İstanbul, Türkiye |
| Geo Coordinates | 40.99030, 29.02370 |
| Part of Walk | Fish, Pickles and Sunset Tea: Istanbul's Asian Side from Kadıköy Market to Moda |
| Generated | Generated |
Stop at the window and let your eyes adjust: neat pyramids of lokum dusted with sugar, rose pink, pistachio green, lemon yellow, and jars of glassy boiled sweets glowing like stained glass. The name over the door is Hacı Bekir, and it carries more history than any other name in this market.
The company was founded in 1777 by a confectioner called Bekir, a man from Kastamonu on the Black Sea side of Anatolia, who opened his first shop on the old peninsula across the water. He made such good sweets that he became chief confectioner to the Ottoman court. This branch is much younger than the company, but the recipes and the name have been handed down through the family for generations.
Lokum existed before him, but tradition credits Hacı Bekir's shop with perfecting it, using refined sugar and starch to get that soft, elastic, almost wobbly bite. European travellers fell for it and took boxes home, where it became Turkish delight. In the late nineteenth century his grandson, Ali Muhiddin, won medals at European exhibitions, and the family business grew into a symbol of Istanbul taste.
Now look at the hard, clear sweets in the jars. They are called akide şekeri. Akide means a pledge or a creed, and the story goes that on the Janissaries' pay day, the sultan sent them these sweets... if the soldiers accepted, all was well; if they refused, a rebellion could be brewing. A bag of sugar as a political barometer.
Try a piece of plain rose lokum first, then one with mastic, which tastes a little like pine and a little like chewing gum. Locals often bring a box when visiting friends or family, because you never arrive empty-handed in this city. Then cross into the parallel lane, Güneşlibahçe Sokak, and follow the sound of fishmongers shouting.