Kunafa in Egypt
In Egypt kunafa is a Ramadan sweet, made by hand on a great round griddle or by machine, and filled with cream, nuts and, lately, mango or Nutella.
Also known as: konafa, kunafa Ramadan, كنافة رمضان
In Egypt, kunafa and qatayef are widely considered the most popular sweets of Ramadan.[1]
Made by hand
The traditional kunafa maker works at a huge round oven, “swirling batter round and round” on its drum-like hot surface.[1] The batter falls through a metal can with holes in its bottom and sets into fine threads on the hot metal.[2] The method is old: Edward Lane’s 19th-century Arabic-English dictionary describes the same idea: a pierced vessel moved in circles over a large tray of tinned copper with a fire beneath.[4]
Three kinds of dough
The Egyptian news site Masrawy lists three kinds of kunafa dough:[3]
- Sha’r (“hair”), named for threads as fine as hair.
- Yadawi (“handmade”), made the traditional way with the perforated vessel.
- Makina (“machine”), made by machine.
Gulf News reported that machines threaten to make handmade kunafa a thing of the past. One maker told the paper that hand-cooked kunafa is “tastier than the one produced mechanically”.[2]
Fillings
Egyptians traditionally fill kunafa with cream or nuts.[1] Many buy the threads and fill them at home with sugar and nuts before baking and pouring over syrup.[2]
Pastry shops have added new versions in recent years: two layers of kunafa with cream and chopped mango, and kunafa spread with Nutella.[1]
Read about the cheese-filled kunafa of the Levant in Knafeh in Nablus.
Sources
- 1.Hend El-Behary. Konafa creations: The sumptuous sweets of Ramadan 2016. Egypt Independent, 2016.
- 2.Ramadan Al Sherbini. Tasteful art of kunafa making all but lost. Gulf News. Last updated 28 March 2020.
- 3.كانت وصفة طبيب لمعاوية.. هل تعرف أصل كنافة رمضان؟. Masrawy, 2020. In Arabic.
- 4.Edward William Lane. An Arabic-English Lexicon, entry "kunáfah". Williams & Norgate (1863–93), online edition.