Once the flavorings have been added, Sahakian pours the syrup into several wooden trays covered in a thick layer of cornstarch to prevent the candies from sticking to the trays. вЂњItвЂ™s not a smell that many know,вЂќ he says of the bitter citrus oil, adding that Middle Eastern shops are still his primary buyers for the traditional locum flavors such as rose, mint, licorice and bergamot (the nut varieties are more like a chewy nut brittle packed with toasted almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios or walnuts). Sahakian checks the consistency of the simmering syrup and deems it satisfactory, then adds a few squeezes of bergamot oil from a dropper. вЂњDickran comes in, pokes at the candy and says, вЂThis batch is good, yes, yes,вЂ™вЂќ says Sahakian, smiling. Nory Candy & PastryвЂ™s former owner now stops by the shop weekly to check on his prodigy. вЂњI trained under him for months, following his every move,вЂќ recalls Sahakian, as he scrapes down the sides of the copper pot with a metal paint scraper to prevent the caramelization of the cornstarch-laden sugar syrup.

This wasnвЂ™t the type of business transaction that involved handing over a check in exchange for the front door keys. вЂњI wanted to spend more time with them.вЂќ JibilianвЂ™s вЂњfor saleвЂќ listing came around at just the right time. вЂњWorking at the racetrack was a really great, fun job until I had kids,вЂќ Sahakian says. He worked his way through several hotel kitchens, including the Sofitel in Los Angeles, before landing a job as the director of food services at Santa Anita Park. Sahakian traded his shoehorns for a candy thermometer shortly after signing up for cooking classes at FullertonвЂ™s Orange County School of Culinary Arts (now the Culinary Arts Institute). вЂњI had trained to be a shoe repairman like my father, but at some point making orthotics wasnвЂ™t all that interesting anymore,вЂќ he says. During the 1990s, he owned two shoe repair shops in Newport Beach. вЂњI think Dickran really wanted someone to buy the shop who he felt was right for it,вЂќ Sahakian says.Д«ut candy making was not always in SahakianвЂ™s dreams.

He and Jibilian met in 2009 when Sahakian happened upon the shopвЂ™s вЂњfor saleвЂќ listing online. вЂњYou flatten the locum between cookies to make something like sвЂ™mores,вЂќ he says, picking up and pulling a chubby nut-filled square to demonstrate its flexibility. The soft, chewy candy, which originated in the Ottoman Empire as early as the 16th century, is widely available throughout the Middle East and central Europe today.ДЄs a teenager, Sahakian says he often picked up the NoryвЂ™s walnut version of the marshmallow-like sweet to make a common Lebanese snack. вЂњEven though Dickran, and I are from different places, weвЂ™re all Armenian so we all grew up eating Turkish delight,вЂќ says Sahakian. Hovagimian had opened the small candy shop in Hollywood in 1964, and the Jibilians moved the company to its current location in 1981.ДЇOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this story and a headline gave an incorrect last name, Bastdmajian, for former owner Nory Hovagimian.ДЄround the same time, SahakianвЂ™s family had fled Lebanon because of the countryвЂ™s civil war and arrived in Pasadena with their 14-year-old son. Jibilian and his wife, Armen, immigrated to Southern California from Egypt and purchased the Turkish delight factory more than 30 years ago from Nory Hovagimian, an Armenian immigrant from Romania. вЂњWe just connected it was one of those amazing moments,вЂќ says Sahakian, who took over the shop a couple of years ago and is covered in almost as much snowy-white cornstarch and powdered sugar as the candy he makes. And in the process theyвЂ™ve developed an unexpected father-and-son-like bond. Sahakian and his mentor, the candy shopвЂ™s 71-year-old former owner, Dickran Jibilian, have been sharing their favorite childhood sweet with their adopted country since long before the box-office-driven surge in demand for NoryвЂ™s Turkish delight. But for this Armenian candy maker, what lies behind that front door really is a fantasy of sorts. LewisвЂ™ Turkish delight-filled вЂњChronicles of NarniaвЂќ fantasies is clear from the Winnetka shopвЂ™s parking lot, where the weathered Nory Locum sign is wedged between those for a nail salon and dry cleaners. Six days a week, the owner of Nory Candy & Pastry delicately flavors each batch with citrusy drops of bergamot oil, rosewater or the essences of various fruits, then pours the candy into wooden trays to cool into gelГ©e-like locum, the confection known as Turkish delight. Tucked in the back room of a tiny powdered-sugar-dusted San Fernando Valley storefront, Armand Sahakian patiently tends to the sweet syrup bubbling in two giant copper caldrons.

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