This unusual Turkish dessert is usually prepared by street vendors on small stoves with individual compartments. Each compartment is filled with a thick, colorful toffee paste that the vendor then wraps around a wooden stick, creating a sort of multicolored lollipop.

The candy has a long history, presumably originating during the Ottoman Empire period, when it was mainly used as a health remedy. The modern versions of macun are quite different than the original herbal pastes, but they are characterized by their distinctive sweet and spicy flavor which is achieved by the addition of numerous spices such as aniseed, cloves, turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon, or cumin.

The dish is strongly associated with the city of Manisa, where wrapped macun candies are thrown from the top of the mosque during the Mesir Macun Celebration.