Knafeh () is a traditional Arab dessert made with '' kadayif'' (spun pastry dough) layered with

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

and soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup called

attar Attar, also known as ittar, is an essential oil derived from botanical or other natural sources. Most commonly these oils are extracted via hydrodistillation or steam distillation. Attar can also be expressed by chemical means but generally n ...

. Knafeh is a popular throughout the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

, especially in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

, and is often served on special occasions and holidays. The most common variant of knafeh in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, ''Knafeh Nabulseyeh'', originated in the Palestinian city of

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

Etymology

The

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

borrows the word "''knafeh''" from Levantine and

Egyptian Arabic Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian, or simply as Masri, is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic variety in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and originated in the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt. The esti ...

, and widely transliterates it as , and similar variations. The ultimate origin of the word knafeh is debated. Some sources state that it comes from the Coptic Egyptian word "", meaning a bread or cake. Another view is that it comes from a Semitic root with a meaning of "side" or "wing", and from the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, "to flank or enclose". Early uses are found in stories like ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition ( ...

''.

History

A common story is that the knafeh was created to satisfy the hunger of

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

s during

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

. The story, which dates in writing as early as the 10th century, is variously said to have occurred in

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

or in the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, where Levantine dessert makers preparing it for

Mu'awiya I Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...

Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq () was an Arab author from Baghdad. He was the compiler of a tenth-century cookbook, the (, ''The Book of Dishes''). This is the earliest known Arabic cookbook. It contains over 600 recipes, divided into 132 chapters. The is the oldest survivi ...

's tenth century Arabic cookbook, (''Book of Dishes''), which documented many recipes from

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

courts, does not mention or describe knafeh. However, it does feature a chapter on qatayif, an Arabic pancake dumpling dessert that originated in the Fatamid Empire. The 13th century anonymous cookbook, (''Book of Dishes from

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

and

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

''), however, gives a number of recipes for knafeh, which it describes as a pancake dumpling thinner that qatayif prepared on a flag pan. Some of the knafeh recipes in the cookbook call for layering the thin pancake with fresh cheese, baked, and topped with honey and rose syrup. See als
contents
an

/ref> Ibn al-Jazari gives an account of a 13th-century

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

period market inspector who rode through

at night ensuring the quality of knafeh, qatayif, and other foods associated with

. Over time, new knafeh preparation methods were developed, including a technique of dripping thin batter onto a metal sheet from a perforated container, creating hair-like strings. A mid-15th century Ottoman Turkish translation of

Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan bin Muḥammad bin al-Karīm al-Baghdādī (; ), usually called simply al-Baghdadi, was the compiler of an early Arab cookbook of the Abbasid period, ''Kitāb al-Ṭabīḫ'' (; ''The Book of Dishes''), written in 1226. ...

's added several new contemporary knafeh recipes, though it does not specify where they originated from. Today, knafeh is served throughout the Middle East, although it is "particularly associated with Nablus" and considered to be a "cultural touchstone for Palestinian identity".

Common variants

Knafeh Nabulseyeh (Nablus, Palestine)

Knafeh has been described as a "Palestinian Institution." ''Knafeh Nabulseyeh'' is a popular version of knafeh originated in the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

city of

, hence the name ''Nabulseyeh'' (also spelled as ''Nabilsiyeh''). Nablus is still renowned in for its knafeh, which "is filled with the city’s trademark firm, white, salty nabulsi cheese" and covered with sweet syrup. Today, ''knafeh Nabulseyeh'' is the most common variant of knafeh in Jordan and Palestine. As a result, academics have described Nablus as the modern-day knafeh capital.

Knafeh Ghazawiya (Gaza Strip, Palestine)

''Knafeh'' ''Ghazawiya'' is a Palestinian variant of ''knafeh'' unique to the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. It is made with a variety of Gazan nuts and spices, with "nutmeg and cinnamon replacing the cheese."

Künefe (Hatay, Turkey)

Künefe is a variant of knafeh believed to have originated in Hatay Province, Turkey. It is filled with a mozzarella-like local Hatay cheese and coated in "a syrup made of water, sugar and lemon juice." In 2012, the EU Commission approved ''Antakya Künefesi'', a variant of both kadayif and künefe, as a

Protected Geographical Indication Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and Traditional food, traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG), promote ...

(PGI).

Dubai chocolate

Dubai chocolate is a chocolate bar with a knafeh and pistachio filling. It was first produced by Fix Dessert in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, but versions are now sold worldwide.

Preparation

There are many several types of knafeh pastry: * ''khishnah'' (, rough): a crust made from long thin noodle threads. * ''nāʿimah'' (, fine): a semolina dough. * ''muhayara'' (, mixed): a mixture of ''khishnah'' and ''na'ama''. * ''mabruma'' (, twined): a noodle pastry The knafeh pastry is heated in butter, margarine, palm oil, or traditional semneh, spread with soft sweet cheese, such as Nabulsi cheese, and topped with additional pastry. In ''khishnah knafeh'' the cheese is rolled in the pastry. During the final minutes of cooking, thick sweet sugar syrup, water, and a few drops of

rose water Rose water, or rosewater, is a flavoured water created by steeping rose petals in water. It is typically made as a by-product during the distillation of rose petals to create rose oil for perfumes. Rose water is widely utilized to flavour cu ...

orange blossom The orange blossom is the fragrant flower of the orange (fruit), ''Citrus sinensis'' (orange tree). It is used in perfume making and has been written about as an aphrodisiac. Orange blossom Essential oil, essence is an important component in ...

water are poured on the pastry. The top layer of pastry is sometimes tinted red or orange, and crushed

pistachio The pistachio (, ; ''Pistacia vera'') is a small to medium-sized tree of the Anacardiaceae, cashew family, originating in Iran. The tree produces nut (fruit)#Culinary definition and uses, seeds that are widely consumed as food. In 2022, world ...

s are often sprinkled as a garnish.

Gallery

File:Jerusalem Kanafeh (3783936961).jpg, Knafeh served in Jerusalem File:Kanafeh.jpg, Knafeh shop, old city of Jerusalem File:كنافة نابلسية.jpg, Knafeh Nabulseyeh File:Cheese Soft Konafah.jpg, Soft Knafeh filled with Nabulsi cheese File:Pistachio Kadayif (Unsplash).jpg, Knafeh coated with pistachio and cream File:Turkish künefe and tea.jpg, Turkish ''künefe'' File:Knafeh.jpg, Knafeh served with ice cream File:The Kunafa Maker.jpg, A traditional knafeh maker in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

File:Dubai chocolate on a plate 02.jpg, A bar of Dubai chocolate, filled with knafeh and ground pistachios

References

External links

* {{pastries Arab desserts Arab pastries Ottoman cuisine Egyptian cuisine Jordanian cuisine Lebanese desserts Palestinian desserts Syrian desserts Turkish desserts Stuffed desserts Cheese desserts Palestinian pastries