Kanafeh

Kanafeh (Arabic: كنافة), kadayıf (Turkish), kadaif (Albanian), kataifi, kadaifi (Greek κα(ν)ταΐφι), is a very fine vermicelli-like pastry used to make sweet pastries and desserts. It is sometimes known as "shredded phyllo".

Kanafeh originated in the Arab city of Nablus in the modern-day West Bank, where it is filled with Nabulsi cheese. [ [http://imeu.net/news/article00258.shtml Cuisine] Institute for Middle East Understanding. ] Another name for kanafeh is knafeh Nabulsiyye. It plays a central role in Palestinian cuisine and is the most famous throughout the Arab world.

Kanafeh is also found in the Balkans and is a feature of Turkish, Greek, and Levantine cuisine.

Kanafeh 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 wheat. The threads are then collected into skeins. [ [http://www.yogurtland.com/2006/03/11/how-the-kataifi-is-made/ How kataifi is made.] ]

Another variant has a cheese filling and called knāfeh, kunāfah, or kunfeh (Arabic; كنفه (Turkish;"Künefe").

Knafeh dough comes in three types:
*khishneh (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 khishneh 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 cheese) and more pastry; or the khishneh kunafah is rolled around the cheese. A thick syrup, consisting of sugar, water and a couple of drops of lemon juice, is poured on the pastry during the final minutes of cooking.

In Turkey, 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 "kaymak" and pistachio/walnut.

Often the top layer of kadaif pastry is colored using orange food coloring. Crushed pistachios are typically sprinkled on top as a garnish.

Other variants

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 baklava. 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.

Kataifi is sometimes used, in fusion cuisine, to make savory pastries. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/farnorth/stories/s598247.htm Prawns Kataifi] ]

Etymology

From the Ottoman Turkish word قطائف [kadaif] , plural of Arabic قطعيفه [qatˁiːfah] 'velvet'. This word originally referred to a kind of crêpe which was later cut into strips resembling modern kadaif.

ee also

*Phyllo
*Arab cuisine
*Levantine cuisine
*Palestinian cuisine
*Turkish cuisine
*Qatayef, the same word as "kataifi", but a quite different preparation
*Ekmek kataif, a sort of Turkish bread custard

References