Pesmek, strand helva, flax helva or stretch helva. These are all names for the delicious confection known as pismaniye. Although the town of Izmit east of Istanbul is so famous for pismaniye, it apparently originated in Iran, where according to the Büyük Larousse Encyclopaedia it is known as pesmek. So how did it come to be known as pismaniye, meaning 'regretfulness'? Some say that this derives from the difficulty of getting the texture right. It is said that it used to be made at the Ottoman palace, and hence the name palace helva, the name by which the people of Mudurnu still produce it. In the city of Kastamonu on the Black Sea coast it is named çekme helva or stretch helva, and purchased by visitors as souvenirs. In Antalya the same sweet, this time called keten (flax) helva used to be a feature of get-togethers with friends, who made the helva themselves to the accompaniment of ballads.

Similarly in the past during Ramazan, young girls seated around a large tray kneading the helva would exchange ballads and riddles. It is said that Izmir's pismaniye was introduced from Iran and Armenia by Armenian confectioners who settled in the town. Although the first recorded pismaniye maker here was Hayri Usta of Kandirali, the first person to produce it on a commercial scale was an Armenian confectioner named Haci Agop Dolmaciyan. The young Ibrahim Ethem Efendi, who was a clerk at Izmit Accounting Office and also gave Turkish and French lessons to Dolmaciyan's children, learnt how to make the helva during his frequent visits to his employ's's shop, and when Haci Agop closed his shop and emigrated during the First World War, Ibrahim Ethem Efendi opened his own pismaniye shop in the district of Kapanön.

Our host, the chief confectioner, told us that Izmit's pismaniye differs in having a slightly higher proportion of sugar. By now the air was filled with a wonderful aroma from the roasting flour. After 20 minutes the roasted flour was spread in a large tray and left for 15 minutes, while the boiled sugar was poured onto a marble slab. When the sugar had cooled slightly it was gathered into the centre with a spatula, and when it had thickened it was beaten for three minutes by machine, turning white and opaque in the process. The boiled sugar was then placed in the centre of the tray containing the flour, and the five or six mechanical arms of the machine began to push and pull. It is this kneading process which produces the strands, turning the helva into a type of candy floss.