Soft, translucent jelly cubes set from sugar syrup and starch, perfumed most classically with rosewater or Chios mastic, then cut into squares and rolled in powdered sugar or icing sugar so they stop sticking. They are tender and chewy, melting slowly on the tongue, and often hold chopped almonds or pistachios inside. The island of Syros, and its capital Ermoupoli, is the heartland of Greek loukoumi, which is listed on Greece's national register of intangible cultural heritage. They are eaten with coffee and given as a gift sweet for guests.
The craft of this jelly sweet reached Syros from the wider world of Asia Minor and Constantinople. It is closely linked to craftsmen from the island of Chios, who are said to have carried the recipe, and with it the use of Chian mastic, when they resettled on Syros around 1824 during the Greek War of Independence. Production took hold in the new port city of Ermoupoli, where the first sugar cauldron is recorded around 1832 and the earliest confectioners' seals soon after, and dozens of workshops eventually grew up. Local lore credits part of the distinctive taste to the island's mineral-rich water. Syros loukoumi is today inscribed on the national index of intangible cultural heritage of Greece.
A soft, springy cube that gives gently under the teeth and then dissolves slowly into a perfumed sweetness, the powdered sugar coating clinging to the fingers. The texture is the point: tender and a touch elastic, never rubbery or stiff, with a clean melt rather than a hard chew. Rosewater versions taste floral and faintly soapy in the best way; mastic versions carry a cool, resinous, pine-like note unique to Chios. Any nuts inside add a soft crunch against the yielding jelly. One or two are plenty, eaten slowly with strong coffee.
Loukoumi is a starch-and-sugar gel, and its smooth, springy set depends on long, patient cooking. Sugar syrup is brought up and held while a slurry of cornflour or wheat starch is cooked into it; the mixture must be stirred almost without stop over low heat for a long stretch, often an hour or more, so the starch fully gelatinises and the syrup partly inverts, which keeps the finished sweet soft and stops it crystallising or going grainy. A little acid such as lemon or cream of tartar helps invert the sugar to the same end. Flavour and colour are added near the end, the mixture is poured into an oiled tray to set firm overnight, then cut and dredged generously in icing sugar mixed with a little starch so the cubes do not weep and stick.
Variations
Rosewater and Chios mastic are the two classic flavourings, but bergamot, citrus, vanilla, and other floral waters all appear, each tinted a pale colour to match. Many cubes are studded with chopped almonds, pistachios, or walnuts. Beyond the plain cubes, Syros is also known for halvadopita, a soft nougat of the same family pressed between two thin wafers. This jelly-style loukoumi is wholly distinct from the Greek soutzouk loukoumi, the chewy rope of walnuts dipped in thickened grape must, and differs from Turkish lokum chiefly in its island provenance, its strong mastic tradition, and its name.
On the Palate
Where Loukoumi sits in the Greek flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12
How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour active + 30 min waiting
- 16 min
In a heavy pan, dissolve 4 cups sugar in 1.5 cups water with a squeeze of lemon juice and bring to a simmer.
- 24 min
Whisk 1 cup cornflour into 3 cups water until smooth, then stir this slurry slowly into the hot syrup.
- 360 min
Cook over low heat, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture turns thick, glossy, and pale gold (about 1 hour).
Watch outStir almost without stopping over low heat for the full hour until it's thick, glossy and pale gold — this is what fully gelatinizes the starch so the set stays smooth, not grainy.
- 42 min
Stir in rosewater or a few crushed grains of mastic and a drop of colour, plus chopped nuts if using.
- 53 min
Pour into an oiled tray lined with starch and smooth the top.
- 630 min
Leave to set, uncovered, at room temperature overnight until firm.
Watch outLet it set uncovered overnight until firm before cutting — rush it and the squares are too soft to hold their shape.
- 75 min
Turn out and cut into squares with an oiled knife.
- 84 min
Toss the cubes generously in icing sugar mixed with a little cornflour and store in layers.
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