4 October, 2021
Kanafeh is an Arab dessert that bears a strong resemblance to vermicelli or the famous angel hair, which is pressed or wrapped around a very salty cheese similar to mozzarella. When tasting it, the softness of the cheese melts together with the sweetness of the dough, which is soaked in a syrup.
It is a dessert prepared in the Arab world. The most well-known version is kanafeh, which originated in Palestine and became the traditional dessert of that country. Kanafeh was born in the Palestinian city of Nablus, located in the north of Jordan.
It all began when a Syrian helped a Palestinian open a business selling a typical Syrian dessert, which was made with a nut filling. The Syrian then returned to his country and left the business entirely in the hands of the Palestinian, who started to innovate the sweet by using cheese instead of nuts because nuts were becoming very expensive. To complete the dessert and keep it affordable, he decided to buy goat cheese produced locally.
Seeing the success of his creation, the Palestinian named it kanafeh nabulsieh in honor of the city where it originated. When customers tasted the Palestinian’s version, the dessert quickly became popular and spread throughout the territory, becoming one of Palestine’s traditional desserts and part of Arab sweets.
Another version of the origin story states that kanafeh was created in Egypt by doctors to satisfy the hunger of caliphs during Ramadan.
