English borrowed the wordknafeh fromLevantine andEgyptian Arabic, and transliterates it askanafeh, kenafeh, knafeh, kunafah, kunafeh, konafa, knéfé, kunafa, and similar variations.[12][13]
The ultimate origin of the word is debated. It may come from theCoptic Egyptiankenephiten, a bread or cake.[14][15][12][16] Or it may come from aSemitic root meaning "side" or "wing", and from theArabickanafa, "to flank or enclose".[17][18] Early uses appear inOne Thousand and One Nights,[12] a collection of Middle Eastern folk Tales.
Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's tenth century Arabic cookbook,Kitab al-Tabikh (Book of Dishes), which documented many recipes fromAbbasid courts, does not mention or describe knafeh. However, it does feature a chapter onqatayif, an Arabic pancake dumpling dessert that originated in theFatamid Empire.[24][5] The 13th century cookbook,Kitab al tabikh fi-l-Maghrib wa-l-Andalus (Book of Dishes fromMaghreb andAl-Andalus), of unknown author, gives a number of recipes for knafeh, which it describes as a pancake dumpling thinner thanqatayif prepared on a flat pan. Some of the knafeh recipes in the cookbook call for layering the thin pancake with fresh cheese, baking it, and topping it with honey and rose syrup.[25][5]
Ibn al-Jazari gives an account of a 13th-centuryMamluk period market inspector who rode throughDamascus at night ensuring the quality of knafeh, qatayif, and other foods associated withRamadan.[26] 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 centuryOttoman Turkish translation ofMuhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi'sKitab al-Tabikh added several new contemporary knafeh recipes, though it does not specify where they originated from.[27]
According to historianMary Isin [tr], cheese-filled knafeh does not appear in any historical records prior to the 19th century, Turkish and Arabic Damascene recipes from the 18th century always used different nuts as filling.[28] An 1844 dictionary for Syrian and Egyptian Arabic by Swedish OrientalistJacob Berggren [sv] mentions a knafeh made of string dough andqaymaq, a sort of cooked cream.[29] Food historianDaniel Newman cites an 1885 cookbook published inBeirut as the earliest documented example of a cheese-filled variant.[30] The 1885 Beirut cookbookUstadh al-Tabbakhin by authorKhalil Khattar Sarkis [ar] provided 4 recipes for knafeh: cheese filled knafeh,burma (rolled) knafeh,mafroukeh, where knafeh pastry is rubbed by hand to be softened, andknafeh basma, which is made with 2 layers of pastry.[31][32]
The book "Comparative Encyclopedia of Aleppo" by Syrian authorKhayr al-Din al-Asadi, completed in 1971 and published posthumously in 1981, described 10 different kinds ofknafeh.[33][34]
Common variants
Knafeh Nabulseyeh served in a Nablussouk, or street market
Knafeh Nabulseyeh (Nablus, Palestine)
Knafeh has been described as a "Palestinian Institution."[10]Knafeh Nabulseyeh is a popular version of knafeh originated in thePalestinian city ofNablus,[7][11] hence the nameNabulseyeh (also spelled asNabilsiyeh).[7] Nablus is still renowned in for its knafeh, which "is filled with the city’s trademark firm, white, saltynabulsi cheese" and covered with a sweet syrup calledqatir,[35][10][36] it has 1 layer of either rough (kadayif) or soft (semolina) knafeh pastry atop the cheese,[37][38] typically prepared upside down then flipped,[10][35] with soft dough being more popular than kadayif for Nabulsi knafeh.[35][37]
Today,knafeh Nabulseyeh is the most common variant of knafeh in Jordan and Palestine.[7] As a result, academics have described Nablus as the modern-day knafeh capital.[3]
Associations between Nablus and knafeh date back to at least 1950;ʻAbd al-Wahhāb ʻAzzām's 1950 bookRiḥlāt noted that "Nablus is famous for its knafeh".[39]
Knafeh Ghazawiya (Gaza Strip, Palestine)
KnafehGhazawiya is a Palestinian variant ofknafeh unique to theGaza Strip. It is made with a variety of Gazan nuts and spices, with "nutmeg and cinnamon replacing the cheese.", the pastry used is made from semolina andbulgur.[40][41]
Künefe (Hatay, Turkey)
Künefe is a variant of knafeh believed to have originated inHatay Province, Turkey.[42][43] It is filled with a mozzarella-like local Hatay cheese and coated in "a syrup made of water, sugar and lemon juice."[42] In 2012, the EU Commission approvedAntakya Künefesi, a variant of bothkadayif and künefe, as aProtected Geographical Indication (PGI).[43] It also received a geographic indication by theTurkish Patent and Trademark Office,[44] both geographic indications specify that Hatay kunefe is made with 2 separately heated layers of pastry around the cheese.[42][45][46]
Dubai chocolate
Dubai chocolate is a chocolate bar with akadayif and pistachio filling, It was first produced by Fix Dessert inDubai, but versions are now sold worldwide.[47] While originally inspired by knafeh and first sold under the name "Can't Get Knafeh Of It", the bar does not contain any cheese.[47]
Sandwiched knafeh
Lebanese ka'ak with knafeh
InLebanon,kaak knafeh is a popular street food, its made of a knafeh sandwiched in sesame-coated bread.[48]
InNablus, knafeh is sandwiched inpita bread and eaten for breakfast.[49][50]
Knafeh madlouqa
Levantine madlouqa
Knafeh madlouqa (Arabic:كنافة مدلوقة) is a Levantine dessert made of a layer of finely-shredded knafeh dough that is cooked insamneh and topped with qishta orkaymak.[51][33][52] The knafeh pastry in the bottom layer is sometimes replaced with semolina.[51][53]
Preparation
Mabruma (twined) knafeh
There are several types of knafeh pastry:[54][35][55]
khishnah (Arabic:خشنة, rough): a crust made from long thin noodle threads.
The knafeh pastry is heated in butter, margarine, palm oil, or traditionalsemneh, spread with soft sweet cheese, such asNabulsi cheese, and topped with additional pastry. Inkhishnah knafeh the cheese is rolled in the pastry. During the final minutes of cooking, thick sweet sugar syrup, water, and a few drops ofrose water ororange blossom water are poured on the pastry. The top layer of pastry is sometimes tinted red or orange, and crushedpistachios are often sprinkled as a garnish.[10]
Today, knafeh is served throughout the Middle East, although it is "particularly associated with Nablus"[10] and considered to be a "cultural touchstone forPalestinian identity".[3]
Knafeh is popular in Israel, and it is prepared by many Israeli eateries and chefs.[58][59][60][37] Some Palestinians have criticized the presentation of knafeh as an Israeli food without reference to its Arab origins, describing this ascultural appropriation.[59][58][60]
^The Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries."Appendix II - Semitic Roots".American Heritage Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. RetrievedJuly 12, 2018.
^EZER/ANTAKYA (Hatay), (DHA), Mehmet (23 September 2008)."Hatay künefesi patent aldı" [Hatay kunefe received a patent].Hurriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved12 November 2025.
^"ANTAKYA KÜNEFESİ"(PDF).Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved12 November 2025.
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