Remembering the Pinoy Turkish Delight from our childhood

The pink gem from our local sari-sari store is now rare.

Long before we had imported gummies and expensive sweets, we had these: clear plastic pouches of pink squares dusted with white powder. Our local sari-sari store owner called them “Turkish Delight.”

It’s hard to describe the texture to someone who hasn’t tried it. It’s not quite a gummy bear, and it’s definitely not as soft as the gelatin we eat for dessert. It’s a gelatinous snack with a serious chew—dense, with a rubbery bounce that’s uniquely satisfying. It’s the kind of candy that fights back just a little bit when you bite into it. Each cube is coated in a layer of powdered sugar, partly for sweetness, but mostly to keep the sticky, translucent squares from fusing into one giant pink block in the Philippine heat.

The signature rose-scented chew

What made these stand out from the typical strawberry or cherry candies of our childhood was that distinct rose flavor. It was a light, perfumed sweetness that felt a bit “fancy” for a roadside snack. Opening a bag is a full sensory experience: the white powder falling on your shirt, the struggle to pry a piece out of the crowded bag, and that faint floral aroma.

The thing about this candy is that it’s not made in factories; it’s made in backyard kitchens and family-run setups. The packaging isn’t anything fancy—just a simple printed label slipped into the sealed plastic pouch.

Unfortunately, these are not as commonly sold as they were in our childhood. But if we ever find them, there’s something comforting about the fact that while everything else is being rebranded or ‘improved,’ these candies remain exactly as we remember them from twenty years ago.