‘Soundy Candy’ and creativity

AYLİN ÖNEY TAN - aylinoneytan@yahoo.com

I popped the candy in my mouth, and within seconds it started popping; it popped, and popped again. I could actually hear it popping. It was a strawberry-flavored popping candy, but not in powder form; on the contrary, it was like classic hard-boiled candy, or more like a cough lozenge. As I’m not particularly fond of sweets, I felt the need for something to drink, and without thinking, I gulped a big sip from my white wine. The wine instantly activated whatever was happening in my mouth. The face of the candy guy turned panicky as we both heard the sound of the last big explosion in my mouth. As the candy cracked into a zillion pieces, we cracked into laughter, but the real laugh was ahead late through the night.

That incident happened at the closing reception of the event dedicated to creativity and I happened to be the guinea pig of the candy guy who was seeking some volunteers to try his new candy creation.

The “Great Festival of Creativity,” held in Istanbul between May 20 and 22, was an initiative of the British government aimed at forming a platform for original thinking and fresh insights that are commercially relevant and can be put into action in businesses large or small.

The GREAT festival is described as a rare gathering of creative and commercial intelligence. The festival in Istanbul was the first of three “GREAT” festivals – the other two are scheduled for Hong Kong and in Shanghai. The auditorium of The Seed at Sakıp Sabancı Museum were full at all sessions, driving an excited crowd of entrepreneurs from the fields of education, technology, fashion, design, luxury, food and drink. Presented by thought leaders, subject experts and business individuals, the audience was offered a unique program of masterclasses, example-rich presentations, network sessions, and above all, direct access to proven creative thinkers who drive their business forward with imagination, innovation and flair. The festival was meant to inspire, stimulate and fascinate the participants and it surely did; at least it was an agent to stimulate my taste buds.

The topic of food and drink was covered only in one session, the very last one titled “Food for Thought” – unfortunately not in the big auditorium, but in the much smaller Sicimoğlu room. The location proved to be an unlucky choice, as at least four times as many people tried to enter as there were seats. The speakers could only tackle a fraction of the vast topic. Moderator Tom Parker Bowles gently balanced the time between the contributors; the key-speaker was the formidable queen of Middle Eastern cookery, Claudia Roden, our Turkish side included myself, Chef Vedat Başaran and food writer Nevin Halıcı. Tom Kitchin shared his observations on the Turkish taste palate and ingredients, and admitted that the Turkish delight he had tasted here was nothing like the gelatinous mass in Britain.

Coming back to the exploding candy, later in the night, I introduced the candy guy, Tolga Erden, to Tom Parker Bowles. Overly excited at finding someone willing to taste his candies, he began pulling out sachets from his bag, tucking them into Tom’s hands and pockets, and kept telling that he should save some for his kids. Later, I teased him saying, your candies are now semi-royal, but he seemed perplexed. “Why?” “Or how?” he asked. Only then did I realize that he did not recognize who Tom was.

Now it was my time to laugh as he was crying out loud, “No Way!!!,” so totally blushed with embarrassment, as red as his candies!

It was indeed a great GREAT festival bringing together everybody from all grounds, everybody with a true quest for creativity and innovation.