Peeled pumpkin slices cured in sugar, cooked and browned in the oven, then finished with double-roasted tahini and walnuts; registered as Antalya Kabak Tatlısı in 2021.

The registration file calls it a dessert tied to Antalya, and TÜRKPATENT registered it on 12 April 2021 at the request of the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The pumpkin must be grown in Camili village in Döşemealtı and the tahini made from Manavgat sesame. The slices sit in sugar for 12 to 24 hours, simmer for two to three hours, then brown in an oven at 175 C for 15 to 20 minutes. Piyazcı Ahmet calls its baked version indispensable, and 7 Mehmet serves a kabak tatlısı with walnut and buffalo kaymak and a stuffed pumpkin made from the geographically indicated Döşemealtı pumpkin.

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Make it at home

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg bal kabağı (winter squash), peeled, slices about 7 cm wide
  • 600 g granulated sugar
  • 100 g double-roasted tahini
  • 100 g walnut kernels
  • Half a lemon

Method

  1. Slice the pumpkin and peel off the hard skin, then cut each slice into three equal pieces.
  2. Lay the pieces in the 600 g of sugar with the juice of half a lemon and leave them for 12 to 24 hours.
  3. Cook the sugared pumpkin in its own juice on low heat for about 2 to 3 hours, turning it over and skimming off the foam.
  4. When the sugar has thickened, move the pumpkin to a tray and bake in an oven heated to 175 C for 15 to 20 minutes until browned on top.
  5. Pour the double-roasted tahini over the pumpkin, scatter the walnuts and serve at room temperature.

Editor tip. Peel with care: leave the white membrane thick and it hardens as it cooks, cut it too thin and the pumpkin falls apart.

Common allergens: Sesame, Nuts.