National Dishes of the World

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Knafeh
Photo: elif ayse, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

dessert vegetarian

Knafeh

كنافة (knafeh)

A hot dessert of stretchy melted cheese under a crisp pastry layer, soaked in syrup and sprinkled with pistachios.

Eaten in: Palestine

Prep
30 min
Cooking
35 min
Resting
2 h
Total
3 h 5 min
Servings
8

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About the dish

Knafeh is a dessert of mild white cheese baked under a layer of finely shredded pastry or fine kataifi threads soaked in butter. Once baked to a golden orange, it is drenched in sugar syrup scented with orange blossom or rose water and sprinkled with ground pistachios. It is eaten hot, while the cheese is still stretchy, often for breakfast or after dinner, and during Ramadan it is one of the most sought-after sweets. Nablus is regarded as the home of the best-known version, but knafeh in its various forms is eaten across the Levant, and in Turkey, especially in Hatay province, as künefe.

Main ingredients

  • kataifi pastry
  • white brined cheese
  • ghee
  • sugar
  • orange blossom water
  • pistachios

Palestine: The most famous is knafeh nabulsieh from Nablus, made with the town's white brined cheese.

More: Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Knafeh

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/knafeh

Ingredients

8 servings

8 servings

Method

  1. Slice the salted cheese and soak it in cold water for about 2 hours, changing the water several times to remove the excess salt. Pat dry and crumble.

  2. Boil the sugar with the water and lemon juice for 10 minutes, add the orange blossom water and let it cool.

  3. Pull the kataifi apart with your fingers into short strands and mix thoroughly with the melted butter (and colouring).

  4. Press half the pastry firmly into a 28 cm round tin. Spread the cheese over it, leaving a 1 cm border, and cover with the rest of the pastry.

  5. Bake at 190°C for 30–35 minutes, until golden top and bottom and the cheese has melted.

  6. Turn the knafeh out onto a platter straight away, pour over half the cold syrup and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

  7. Serve hot, with the remaining syrup on the side.

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