By Kurma Dasa
Anyone who has ever visited a Hare Krishna Temple feast or a Hare Krishna restaurant will have undoubtedly tasted halva. The memory of its sweet, warm, moist, spiritually-infused 'comfort food-iness' will no doubt have lingered long after all traces of the buttery ecstasy have left the lips. You may not know just how widespread the halva story actually is, and how much world history there is to it. Halva is one of those dishes found from the Balkans to India and claimed as its own by practically every culture and country in between. There are many versions. Basic halva, as it is found throughout the Balkans and Turkey is a simple dessert. The most common version is made by cooking semolina and then shaping it into balls which are then sweetened with either honey or "pekmez" - grape must syrup.