kunāfah (Arabic:
كنافة),
künefe is a very fine
vermicelliVermicelli is a type of pasta, round in section and somewhat thinner than spaghetti. Vermicelloni is less common, and about the same size as fedelini . Both are thinner than spaghettini .-History in Italy:In 14th-century Italy, extra-fine spaghetti had varying local names...
-like pastry used to make sweet pastries and desserts. It is sometimes known as
shredded phyllo.
Kunafah is of
FatimidThe Fatimid Caliphate or al-Fātimiyyūn was an Arab Shi'a dynasty that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Egypt, Sicily, Malta and the Levant from 5 January 909 to 1171. The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the Egyptian city of Cairo as their capital. The term Fatimite is...
origin. Kunafah has long been present in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
and the
LevantThe Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by...
. It has also been a staple of the
cuisines of the former Ottoman empireOttoman cuisine is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its successors in Anatolia, the Balkans, and much of the Middle East.The importance of culinary art for the Ottoman Sultans is evident to every visitor of Topkapı Palace. The palace houses several kitchens that are built underneath ten domes...
in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans.
Kunafah is made by drizzling a row of thin streams of flour-and-water batter onto a turning hot plate, so they dry into long threads resembling
shredded wheatShredded wheat is a breakfast cereal made from whole wheat. It comes in two sizes, bite sized , and full size, which may be broken into small pieces before milk is added....
.
kunāfah (Arabic:
كنافة),
künefe is a very fine
vermicelliVermicelli is a type of pasta, round in section and somewhat thinner than spaghetti. Vermicelloni is less common, and about the same size as fedelini . Both are thinner than spaghettini .-History in Italy:In 14th-century Italy, extra-fine spaghetti had varying local names...
-like pastry used to make sweet pastries and desserts. It is sometimes known as
shredded phyllo.
Origin
Kunafah is of
FatimidThe Fatimid Caliphate or al-Fātimiyyūn was an Arab Shi'a dynasty that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Egypt, Sicily, Malta and the Levant from 5 January 909 to 1171. The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the Egyptian city of Cairo as their capital. The term Fatimite is...
origin. Kunafah has long been present in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
and the
LevantThe Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by...
. It has also been a staple of the
cuisines of the former Ottoman empireOttoman cuisine is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its successors in Anatolia, the Balkans, and much of the Middle East.The importance of culinary art for the Ottoman Sultans is evident to every visitor of Topkapı Palace. The palace houses several kitchens that are built underneath ten domes...
in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans.
Preparation
Kunafah is made by drizzling a row of thin streams of flour-and-water batter onto a turning hot plate, so they dry into long threads resembling
shredded wheatShredded wheat is a breakfast cereal made from whole wheat. It comes in two sizes, bite sized , and full size, which may be broken into small pieces before milk is added....
. The threads are then collected into skeins.
Kunafah dough comes in three types:
- khishnah (Arabic خشنه) "rough", consisting of kadaif pastry, which looks like long thin noodle threads.
- na'ama (Arabic ناعمة) "fine", consisting of small pieces of semolina clustered together.
- mhayara (ِِArabic محيرة): which is a mixture of both khishnah and naa'ama.
The pastry is heated with some butter, margarine or palm oil for a while and then spread with soft cheese (see
Nabulsi cheeseNabulsi cheese is one of a number of white brined cheeses made in the Middle East. Its name denotes its place of origin, Nablus, and it is well-known throughout the West Bank and surrounding regions. It is the principal cheese consumed in Jordan. Produced primarily from sheep milk, goat's milk is...
) and more pastry; or the khishnah kunafah is rolled around the cheese. A thick syrup, consisting of sugar, water and a couple of drops of rose water, is poured on the pastry during the final minutes of cooking. Often the top layer of kadaif pastry is colored using orange food coloring. Crushed
pistachioThe pistachio is a small tree native to mountainous regions of Greece, Syria, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and western Afghanistan, that produces an important culinary nut. Pistacia vera often is confused with other species in the genus Pistacia that are also known as pistachio...
s are typically sprinkled on top as a garnish.
In
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
, the filling is mainly composed of either crushed nuts mixed with powdered sugar and cinnamon, or of sweetened cream cheese.
In
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
, only kadayif pastry (shredded pastry; called "wire kadayif") is used for making künefe. Kadayif is not rolled around the cheese. Cheese is put in between two layers of wire kadayif. It is cooked in small copper plates, served very hot in syrup with clotted cream "
kaymakKaymak, kajmak, or kaimak, also qaymar or qaimar, is a creamy dairy product, similar to clotted cream, made in the Balkans, Turkey, the Middle East, Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, and India...
" and pistachio/walnut.
The city of
NablusNablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 134,000...
is especially renowned for Kunafah. The kunafah of Nablus is filled with
Nabulsi cheeseNabulsi cheese is one of a number of white brined cheeses made in the Middle East. Its name denotes its place of origin, Nablus, and it is well-known throughout the West Bank and surrounding regions. It is the principal cheese consumed in Jordan. Produced primarily from sheep milk, goat's milk is...
and plays a central role in
Palestinian cuisinePalestinian cuisine consists of foods from or commonly eaten by the Arabs of historical Palestine — which includes those living in the Palestinian territories, Israel, refugee camps in nearby countries as well as by Palestinians living abroad...
.
Ka'ket Kanafeh
Popular across the Levant and Turkey, where it can be eaten for breakfast or even for dinner as a main meal, but primarily as a dessert. Eaten as a layered treat or 'helwah', it may be also placed in a special bread and peppered with sesame seeds. It is traditionally served alongside or drenched in a thick, sugar-based, honey-based, or glucose-based syrup called 'qattar' or "attar".
Kadaif
The threads are used to make pastries of various forms (tubes or nests), often with a filling of chopped nuts, like that used for
baklavaBaklava is a rich, sweet pastry featured in many cuisines in the area once controlled by the former Ottoman Empire, in Central Asia and in the lands in between. It and its variants are thus popular in Turkey, the Balkans, Cyprus, much of the Arab world, Iran, the Caucasus, Afghanistan and the lands...
. A kadaif dessert is made by layering a mat of kadaif pastry, a filling of chopped nuts, then another mat of pastry. The pastries or dessert are painted with melted butter, baked until golden brown, then drenched in sugar or honey syrup. Kadaif is sometimes used, in
fusion cuisineFusion cuisine combines elements of various culinary traditions while not fitting specifically into any. The term generally refers to the innovations in many contemporary restaurant cuisines since the 1970s. -Categories and types:...
, to make savory pastries.
World records
The largest plate of Kunafah was made in
NablusNablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 134,000...
.
Palestinians made the largest Kunafah in an attempt to get into the book of
Guinness World RecordsGuinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing an internationally recognised...
. The plate of the
PalestinianPalestinian may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Palestine and the different political entities established there through history—see Palestine .*A member of the Palestinian people, also rendered as Palestinian Arabs.**For more information, see Demographics of...
delicacy measured 75 meters in length and two meters in width with a weight of 1,350 kilogram.
See also
- Phyllo
Phyllo, filo, or fillo dough is paper-thin sheets of raw, unleavened flour dough used for making pastries in Middle Eastern, Greek and other regional cuisines....
- Arab cuisine
Arab cuisine is defined as the various regional cuisines spanning the Arab World from Iraq to Morocco to Somalia to Yemen, and incorporating Levantine, Egyptian and others...
- Egyptian cuisine
Egyptian cuisine consists of the local culinary traditions of Egypt. Egyptian cuisine makes heavy use of legumes and vegetables, as Egypt's rich Nile Valley and Delta produce large quantities of high-quality crops.-History and characteristics:...
- Levantine cuisine
Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant, known in Arabic as the Bilad ash-Sham. This region shared many culinary traditions under the Ottoman Empire which continue to be influential today...
- Palestinian cuisine
Palestinian cuisine consists of foods from or commonly eaten by the Arabs of historical Palestine — which includes those living in the Palestinian territories, Israel, refugee camps in nearby countries as well as by Palestinians living abroad...
- Turkish cuisine
- Qatayef
Qatayef is an Arab dessert commonly reserved for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, a sort of sweet crepe filled with cheese or nuts.- Origin :...
, the same word as kataifi, but a quite different preparation
- Ekmek kataif, a sort of Turkish bread custard
- Armenian cuisine
Armenian cuisine includes the foods and cooking techniques of the Armenian people and the Armenian diaspora. The cuisine reflects the history and geography where Armenians have lived as well as incorporating outside influences. The cuisine also reflects the traditional crops and animals raised in...
- Assyrian cuisine
Assyrian cuisine is similar to other Middle Eastern cuisines. It is also similar to Armenian, Greek, Israeli, Persian, Turkish and Levantine cuisine. It is rich in grains, meat, tomato, and potato. Rice is usually served with every meal accompanied by a stew which is typically poured over the rice...