Candy

🇱🇧Lebanon

Tahini Halva

حلاوة طحينية

A dense sesame confection made by working tahini with boiled sugar syrup until it sets into a crumbly, fibrous block.

🇹🇼Taiwan

Taiwanese Mochi

麻糬

Pounded glutinous rice cakes rolled in peanut powder or filled with red bean, sold fresh in Hualien and at markets.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Talkan

Талқан

A Kazakh sweet of ground and fried wheat mixed with sugar, a daily and tea classic

🇪🇪Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn Marzipan

Martsipan

Almond paste confection, a Tallinn specialty with centuries of tradition, often shaped and painted decoratively.

🇲🇺Mauritius

Tamarind Balls

Boulette tamarin

Tamarind pulp worked with sugar, salt and chilli into sticky balls rolled in more sugar.

🇵🇪Ica, Peru

Tejas

Ica sweets of candied fruit or manjar coated in fondant or chocolate; chocolate versions are chocotejas.

🇨🇼Curaçao

Tentalaria

A chewy, sticky Curaçaoan candy made from molasses or brown sugar and coconut, often shaped into flat rounds.

🇳🇱The Hague, Netherlands

The Hague Coffee Candies

Haagse hopjes

Haagse hopjes are hard coffee-caramel candies flavoured with coffee and cream.

🇵🇪Peru

Turrón de Doña Pepa

A Peruvian anise and honey nougat with layers of cookies, figs and sprinkles, eaten during El Señor de los Milagros. Sweet and chewy.

🇦🇷Argentina

Turrón de Maní

An Argentine peanut turrón of peanuts and honey, sold in blocks and sliced. A Christmas and winter sweet, similar to mantecol but firmer and crunchier.

🇻🇮U.S. Virgin Islands

USVI Tamarind Stew

Tamarind Stew

Sweet and tangy confection made from tamarind pulp cooked down with sugar into a thick, spoonable stew; scooped onto ice cream, yogurt, or eaten alone; a popular Crucian treat sold by local vendors and included in Cruzan Foodie gift boxes.

🇫🇯Fiji

Vakalolo

Grated cassava mixed with coconut, ginger and sugar, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed, then covered in hot coconut caramel.

🇯🇵Japan

Wagashi

和菓子

Traditional Japanese confections made from plant ingredients, served with tea, often seasonal in design.

🇵🇰Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Walnut Kelawo (Kilao)

کلاؤ

Chitrali walnuts are threaded, dipped repeatedly in thickened grape or fruit must, and dried into a chewy confection.

🇧🇿Belize

Wangla

Toasted sesame seeds bound with boiled cane sugar into a brittle slab, cracked into pieces to sell.

🇯🇵Shikoku, Japan

Wasanbon

和三盆

Wasanbon, the fine hand-ground sugar of Shikoku pressed into small moulded sweets, is a named traditional product bought as itself and the base of high-end wagashi.

🇯🇵Kyoto, Japan

Yatsuhashi

八橋

Kyoto's thin, cinnamon-flavored mochi, folded around red bean paste, sold as souvenirs.

🇬🇧Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Yellowman

A brittle golden honeycomb toffee aerated with bicarbonate of soda, broken from a slab with a hammer.

🇺🇾Uruguay

Yemas Acarameladas

Egg yolks cooked with sugar into small balls and coated in hard caramel.

🇰🇷South Korea

Yugwa

유과

Yugwa is a Korean confection made from fermented glutinous-rice dough, fried until airy, then coated with syrup and puffed rice.

🇷🇺Russia

Zefir

Зефир

Zefir is a marshmallow-like confection of whipped fruit puree with egg whites and agar-agar, light and airy, snow-white or pastel color with airy texture and gentle sweetness.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Zhent

Жент

A Kazakh festive dessert of millet, crushed curd cheese, butter, sugar, and raisins, a Nauryz and tea classic

🇭🇰Hong Kong

Zhi ma juan (Black sesame roll)

芝麻捲

Black sesame roll, the glossy jelly-like sheet rolled and cut into segments, is a named Hong Kong dim sum dessert with a distinctive form.

🇸🇾Syria

Zlebiye

زلابية

Yeasted batter is piped into coils, fried until crisp, and soaked in syrup as a Syrian jalebi-style sweet.

🇱🇾Libya

Zumeeta

Roasted barley flour mixed with sugar and olive oil or water into a dense, sweet, sandy paste eaten with dates.

🇯🇵Sendai, Japan

Zunda mochi

ずんだ餅

Zunda mochi, mochi under a bright green paste of mashed young edamame, is Sendai's defining sweet and a named regional omiyage.

🇹🇷Turkey

İrmik Helvası

Bayramiç tahin helvası

A traditional dessert made by roasting semolina in butter until golden, then adding sugar syrup and pine nuts. The result is a dense, crumbly, nutty sweet with a deep caramelized flavor. İrmik helvası is often prepared ceremonially for religious memorials and distributed to neighbors.