That, folks, was a "raisin sausage," a delicacy evidently delightful to Turkish people. Basically this magic wand is fashioned out of walnuts encased in a jellylike substance made from grape juice. Although purported to be aphrodesiac, I used mine as a fly trap: simply hang in a sunny window and it attracts many varieties of curious insect, which, drawn by the promise of sweetness (or potency) become perilously enmeshed in its excessively sticky surface. Unable to free themselves, at length they succumb -- a metaphor for something, I guess. Um, John McCain's partnership with Sarah Palin? Hey, she's not a pit bull: She's a raisin sausage!