Turkish Taffy Is a "chewy" (usually hard and crunchy) taffy-like candy bar, which comes in several flavors.

History

Turkish Taffy was invented in 1912 by Austrian immigrant Herman Herer, who sold the rights to M. Schwarz & Sons of

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Sephardic Jew Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

whose father, Albert J. Bonomo, had emigrated from Izmir,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and founded the Bonomo Company in

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in 1897 to produce

saltwater taffy Taffy is a type of candy invented in the United States, made by stretching or/and pulling a sticky mass of a soft candy base, made of boiled sugar, butter, vegetable oil, flavorings, and colorings, until it becomes aerated (tiny air bubbles pr ...

and hard candies.Kaufman, Michael T. (July 4, 1999).
Victor A. Bonomo, Maker Of Candy Bars, Dies at 100
. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Retrieved 29 October 2013. According to Tico Bonomo, son of Victor, Turkish Taffy "was not really a taffy, but what is technically known as a short

nougat Nougat ( , ; ; az, nuqa; fa, نوقا) is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts are common), whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The c ...

," consisting of a batter of

corn syrup Corn syrup is a food syrup which is made from the starch of corn (called maize in many countries) and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to softe ...

and egg whites that was cooked and then baked. It was also not Turkish but was created after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the Bonomo factory. It has been marketed in vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and banana flavors. Turkish Taffy was originally sold in large sheets to

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

stores, where pieces were broken off with a

ball-peen hammer A ball-peen or ball pein hammer, also known as a machinist's hammer, is a type of peening hammer used in metalworking. It has two heads, one flat and the other, called the peen, rounded. It is distinguished from a cross-peen hammer, diagonal-peen ...

at the counter and sold by weight. In the late 1940s, the company released a version in candy-bar size which the purchaser could whack against a hard surface to break into bite-sized pieces. This property of being shattered or broken by sudden shock but still pliable and soft when chewed is possible because the candy is a

non-Newtonian fluid A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid that does not follow Newton's law of viscosity, i.e., constant viscosity independent of stress. In non-Newtonian fluids, viscosity can change when under force to either more liquid or more solid. Ketchup, for exa ...

. Since the pieces were both chewy and slow-melting in the mouth, it was a favorite for the frugal customer. A bar still cost 5¢ in the 1960s. By that time, it was marketed by Gold Medal Candy Corporation of

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, New York. In 1949, Turkish Taffy became one of the first forms of candy advertised and marketed on television when Bonomo created and sponsored ''

The Magic Clown ''The Magic Clown'' is an NBC TV series which ran from 1949 to 1954. The final NBC broadcast was on June 27, 1954. The show then moved to WABD where it stayed until 1958. After that, it was renamed ''Bonomo, The Magic Clown'' and was broadcast on ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Television. Tico Bonomo specifically cited the decision to use television as instrumental in the popularity of the candy-bar sized taffys. In 1980, the candy became part of the

Tootsie Roll Industries Tootsie Roll Industries is an American manufacturer of confectionery based in Chicago, Illinois. Its best-known products include the namesake Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops. Tootsie Roll Industries currently markets its brands internationally in ...

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line of candies. It was discontinued in 1989.

Return of Bonomo's Turkish Taffy

In 2003, Bonomo Turkish Taffy, LLC created a website proclaiming the return of Bonomo Turkish Taffy and accepting advance orders. A press release issued by

The Warrell Corporation The Warrell Corporation is a confectionery and snack food manufacturing company based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. History The company was established in 1965 by Lincoln Warrell, originally named ''Pennsylvania Dutch Candies''.< ...

on April 8, 2010, said the product would be available in stores in July 2010 and samples were available for preview to the confectionery industry at the National Confectioners Association's annual "Sweets and Snacks Expo" May 23–27, 2010. Bonomo's Turkish Taffy made its official re-debut to the general public July 2, 2010, at IT'SUGAR in Atlantic City.''Bonomo's Turkish Taffy returns''
by Scott Cendrowski (

CNNMoney.com CNN Business (formerly CNN Money) is a financial news and information website, operated by CNN. The website was originally formed as a joint venture between CNN.com and Time Warner's ''Fortune'' and ''Money'' magazines. Since the spin-off of Tim ...

, 27 October 2010)

Flavors

Current flavors of Bonomo's Turkish Taffy include Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry and Banana. In 2012, Bonomo introduced two new flavors, Blue Raspberry and Wild Cherry.

Kosher certification

Bonomo's Turkish Taffy is certified kosher by the

Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs for ...

, the world's largest

kosher certification agency A kosher certification agency is an organization or certifying authority that grants a ''hechsher'' ( he, הכשר, "seal of approval") to ingredients, packaged foods, beverages, and certain materials, as well as food-service providers and faciliti ...

References

External links

{{commonscat, Turkish Taffy * Old Time Candy website: Kaufman, Michael T
"Bonomo's Turkish Taffy"
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