Talk:Knafeh

Kunafa and Qatayef are just as Egyptian as they are Shami
I have read articles that place the origins of these desserts in the kitchens of the Fatimids and of Sultan Saladin in Egypt. I have also seen articles that place them in Halab and others that place them in Ottoman Turkey or even Ottoman Greece. Until someone provides factual evidence as to where these desserts were originally developed, any chronological reference in the article is unjustified. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.194.124.102 (talk) 02:56, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

That is absolutely not true .. and your referene is not a reliable one. Kinafa originated from Nablus in the west bank in Palestine. It is served in Egypt, but that doesnt make it egyptian. Sushi is serve in egypt, doesnt make Sushi egyptian. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.101.94.24 (talk) 17:11, 24 September 2010 (UTC)


 * that is not true it is origianted in egypt please check
 * The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. p. 447.
 * "Egypt had made two contributions to the sweets repertoire. One was kaꜥk (from Coptic), a sort of ring-shaped biscuit that has survived to the present. The other was an extra-thin flatbread, kunafa (Coptic: kenephiten source: The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. p. 447. أحمد محبوب (talk) 17:33, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

It may be so, however without any credible source, saying that it IS originated in Nablus is wrong because the article (which in fact is only an article in a newspaper...) sited as justification says that "A very fine vermicelli-like pastry, kunafa is said to have originated in the Palestinian town of Nablus". It naturally leads to questions like, "Who is the source of the information?". What is the credibility ? None. Some other newspaper may as well say it is a russian dessert. Should we also write that it is a Russian dessert ? So unless there is a clear evidence, it is mere speculation and should not be treated as a fact. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.68.203.234 (talk) 19:30, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

http://www.food.com/recipe/kunafa-the-traditionally-desert-421973 reference that kinafa is palestinian

Nablus is known for its various deserts, not only knafah. So why knafah is called kanafah nabulsi, or kanafeh from jerusalem? why not cairo or damascene? In Palestine its eaten on a daily basis, sometimes even more than once a day. Whoever has not been to Palestine and seen it, can not negotiate its Palestinian origin.


 * Please read Identifying reliable sources, thanks. Then find at least one reliable source about its origin, and afterward we can continue the discussion. Alex2006 (talk) 16:22, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

Reference from 1853
There is an interesting info on Kanafe, used in Jerusalem, here: p.15..from the book:
 * F de Saulcy (1853): Narrative of a journey round the Dead sea and in the Bible lands in 1850 and 1851: Including an Account of the Discovery of the Sites of Sodom and Gomorrah

I could perhaps be included? Cheers, Huldra (talk) 22:47, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

Künefe
in Turkish. Böri (talk) 12:34, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Kanafeh Origins
Hi, let me explain the recent change to avoid blind reverting here. The previous source identified Kanafeh as an Arabic food, this is a Linguistical/Cultural label for the food, which may very well work for some countries that Kanafeh is native to, but that is not fully inclusive of the foods origins which is why I changed it. Kanafeh is a Levantine food that is also found in Greece, Turkey, and The Balkans, calling it simply an Arabic food is suggesting that All four of those regions fall under the Arabic label, which they do not, the regions have had Arabic influence in various points in their histories but that does not make them Arabic. I have made the lead sentence reflect that and the source confirms it. This change is also consistent with the rest of the article as it goes into the variants of Kanafeh by country below. Lazyfoxx (talk) 20:49, 30 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Hallo Lazyfoxx, first of all I wanted only to excuse myself for the revert of yesterday. Since this article is object of a low intensity edit war, and you changed the reference, I reverted you without reading it before. SOM! Anyway, an alternative definition could be "a dish typical of the regions belonging to the former Ottoman Empire". Alex2006 (talk) 05:21, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
 * No problem at all Alex, I perfectly understand, and I even assumed that was the case with your revert. I personally like the phrase "a dish typical of the regions belonging to the former Ottoman Empire", that is a very inclusive descriptor and I think that would work well in the opener.  My only suggestion would be to add a "especially the Levant" at the end of that to emphasize the dish's Levantine origin.  Otherwise the opener could read "A Levantine dish, typical of the regions belonging to the former Ottoman Empire."  I like the latter the most, what do you think? Lazyfoxx (talk) 05:47, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
 * I think that is a good definition, since many say that the dish originates from Palestine (but until now none brought a serious reference about it). Go for it! BTW, I always ate it in Istanbul, and interestingly my Istanbullu friends say that it is not a Turkish dish, but an Arab one (in Turkey the best Kunefe comes from Antakya). Cheers, Alex2006 (talk) 06:12, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Yeah I have read of it's origins in Palestine, perhaps we can make a note of that as well so people know where it originated in the Levant? I am not sure when it originated but I am guessing it was far back, possibly before the Ottoman Empire ruled the region, I'm sure we can find out with a little research. I have been lucky enough to have many different varieties of Kanafeh living here in the U.S., I have had Greek, Palestinian, Lebanese, Turkish, and loved each variety, I think my favorite is the Palestinian type however, delicious! Lazyfoxx (talk) 07:34, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
 * I would not write anything specific about its Palestinian origin before having a good reference (I wonder if it is present in the Oxford Companion to Food). In Istanbul I had also kadaif, and I don't understand why the article states that is Greek... I think that this is ottoman as well. Alex2006 (talk) 07:57, 31 July 2013 (UTC)


 * A few random comments:
 * I don't believe cheese kanafeh is typical in Greece--kadaifi is filled with nuts (like baklava). The lead seems to be conflating the dough and the dish.
 * The Levant specifically (not the Ottoman domains in general) seems to be the core region; note that Antakya and Gaziantep (Aintab) are part of the Levantine cultural area in many ways.
 * We really need better sources. The two sources in the lead are (1) a photo caption and (2) from about.com.  That's just embarrassing!
 * --Macrakis (talk) 13:42, 31 July 2013 (UTC)

Israel as origin of the dish
Hallo, I restored Palestine as origin of the dish, according to the sources in the article. Of course Kanafeh is popular in Israel, like in all the Levant, but in the lead we describe (if known) the origin of the dish. If you don't agree, please discuss here, thanks. Alex2006 (talk) 14:02, 11 September 2016 (UTC)
 * As I said above, we currently have very weak sources for the origin of the dish. Let's see if we can get better ones. It is very frustrating that the source that talks about a 10th century reference to kanafeh doesn't say what that reference is. I'll guess it is the Kitab al-Tabikh of Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, but I haven't checked. --Macrakis (talk) 17:49, 12 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I have no sources too, and my only book about Ottoman Cuisine reports no Kanafeh (but 4 variants of Kadayif). Alex2006 (talk) 17:59, 12 September 2016 (UTC)

Greek kataifi is my favourite. It is called KatEEfee in Cyprus. I don't know how they spell it. Maybe it's a dialect pronunciation of kataifi Vince Calegon 05:56, 4 May 2018 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vince Calegon (talk • contribs)

WP:ARBPIA3
Can we include this article in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict?.--Sarah Canbel (talk) 18:43, 11 November 2017 (UTC)
 * , yeah, I would say so, but that is only my 2 cents..Huldra (talk) 20:13, 11 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Well I'll wait a bit, obviously this user is the previous IP and recently registered in Wikipedia.--Sarah Canbel (talk) 20:55, 11 November 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Kanafeh. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080720073112/http://imeu.net/news/article008132.shtml to http://imeu.net/news/article008132.shtml
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070804160904/http://imeu.net/news/article00258.shtml to http://imeu.net/news/article00258.shtml
 * Added tag to http://www.politikcity.de/forum/internationale-k%FCche-d%FCnyanin-mutfa/19192-k%FCnefe.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141006113455/http://www.ahrabnews.com/vglippaz.t1aputkcczb2t.x.html to http://www.ahrabnews.com/vglippaz.t1aputkcczb2t.x.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 19:42, 5 December 2017 (UTC)

Misinterpreted sources for Nablus origin
The three out of the four sources given to support a Nablus, or even a Palestine, origin that I can see online don't support that claim.

The only thing The Tart Queen's Kitchen says about its origin is "This sweet traces its origins back to the Ottoman Empire and can still be found in various forms all through the former empire’s dominion." The only thing it says about kanafeh in connection with Nablus is "However, all through the Middle East, the city of Nablus is the place where everyone knows the best knafeh is made. An entire knafeh culture exists there and Nabulsis take great pride in their craft."

Food, Cuisine, and Cultural Competency says, "A vast variety of desserts are offered in Bilad Al Sham, with knafeh, a sweetened cheese dessert with semolina on top, bathed in syrup, being the most popular in Lebanon and Syria." So far, we know that it's the most popular of the sweet desserts in Lebanon and Syria. Then we learn: "The topping is made of orange-dyed vermicelli in Palestine and Jordan; and named knafeh nabilsiyeh due to its origin, Nablus (West Bank)." In other words, this one variation served in Palestine and Jordan, made with orange-dyed vermicelli, is attributed to Nablus.

Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia corroborates this: "Depending on where one is in Palestine, it is customary to serve a sweet such as baklava, ... or a West Bank favorite from Nablus, kanafeh, with honeyed Nablusi cheese beneath a finely shredded noodlelike pastry, dyed orange and sprinkled with crusted pistachios." Again, it's this version with the orange-dyed vermicelli (fine noodles) and, incidentally, honeyed Nablusi cheese that comes from Nablus. Largoplazo (talk) 22:25, 22 April 2018 (UTC)


 * This source says: "The West Bank city of Nablus is home of the most famous kanafeh in the Arab world because of its traditional white-brined cheese that is known as Nabulsi cheese."
 * Or this article In Nablus, kunafa is more than a dessert, it's a way of life.
 * This book about sweets say: "Knafeh is [..] most famously from the Palestinian city of Nablus on the West Bank..."
 * So yes, it is one version only from Nablus...but everyone seem to be in agreement that it is the most famous one Huldra (talk) 23:10, 24 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I really didn't think I would need to explain that:
 * Being the most famous kanafeh in the Arab world is equivalent to neither being the only kanafeh, as would be necessary to make a special point of saying only Nablus, out of the entire Arab world, has kanafeh, nor to Nablus being the place of origin of kanafeh.
 * Kanafeh being "a way of life in Nablus" is, likewise, equivalent to neither kanafeh having no existence or even popularity elsewhere in the Arab world nor to Nablus being its place of origin.
 * Largoplazo (talk) 23:34, 24 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Please don't try patronising me, and please argue agains what I actually said/wrote, and not what you think I said/wrote. There are several sources saying that the most famous Kanafeh come from Nablus. I suggest we have that in the lead, (And yes, there are also sources saying that Kanafeh (and not only a variant of it) originated in Nablus (see eg p. 74), but I won't insist on including that in the lead) Huldra (talk) 23:08, 25 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Re "please argue agains what I actually said/wrote, and not what you think I said/wrote": it's your failure to do that that led to my response, so your admonishment to me is terribly ironic. Your first post in this section was entirely irrelevant to what I'd written, and here you are perplexed that I responded as I did. I assumed you intended it to be responsive, though, so I then answered you based on my supposition that you didn't understand that what you'd written was off-point. My supposition was reinforced by your reversion of the change that had been correctly made by another editor to indicate that kanafeh is found broadly in the Arab world rather than being specifically Palestinian. What you wrote here also seemed to be intended as a justification for your reversion, yet didn't. So it seemed appropriate to explain the discrepancy.
 * Moving forward, as for your proposal to mention in the lead the special popularity of Palestinian kanafeh, it doesn't strike me as lead material, though it's entirely appropriate where it's mentioned in the body of the article. It's a matter of the difference between the significance of kanafeh to Palestine versus the significance of Palestine to kanafeh. So let's say I'm not a fan of mentioning it, and it doesn't seem pressing, but if it is mentioned it shouldn't receive undue weight nor imply anything that isn't said in the sources, as was the case in the last couple of iterations. I'm not an expert on kanafeh, but I don't think any of the restaurants where I've seen it served are Palestinian; one is Egyptian, that much I know. Largoplazo (talk) 02:16, 26 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Well, I thought at if you argued not A, that should not prohibit me from arguing B. (Although I could, as I showed above also have argued A, as indeed there are sources saying it originated in Nablus). In view of the sources, I still think it is relevant to mention, in the lead, that the most famous Kanafeh is from Nablus. (My own completely OR: whenever I have travelled in the Arab world, (Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine/Israel) Nablus has been the only city mentioned as being "the hometown" of Kanafeh. (I have never eaten kanafeh outside the Middle East.)) Huldra (talk) 22:07, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
 * If you argue B in a manner that makes it appear as though you think you are arguing A (in other words, changing the subject in a discussion with no sign whatsoever that you're intending to change the subject), when what you're writing has nothing to do with A, then you're creating your own problem. You aren't "prohibited" from creating your own problem in comprehensibility, but you have no grounds for doing so and then being put out by the confusion you've produced. Largoplazo (talk) 10:25, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Origin story
I have moved or removed a number of citations that failed verification and did not contain the stated information. Several of them related to the origin of kanafeh. I think it is abundantly clear that the famous Kanafeh Nabulsieh made with Nabulsi cheese originated in Nablus, Palestine. However, this article is also about other variations, including historical ones. There are conflicting reports about the history of kanafeh, and it may be that a precursor to the Palestinian version, made with for example nuts instead of cheese, originated elsewhere. I don't think there is enough evidence now - and there may never be - to definitively state that the origin of all historical versions of kanafeh is Nabul, or not. The best approach would be to present a History section that discusses it in more detail, based on reliable sources. --IamNotU (talk) 02:17, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

I created a "History" section and added information from The Oxford Companion to Food. Also, here is an interesting post on Facebook. It can't be used as a citation itself, but it mentions some other sources that could be useful for the history section. If anyone has access to the book Delights from the Garden of Eden - A cookbook and history of the Iraqi Cuisine, which discusses the medieval recipes and development, that would be helpful. --IamNotU (talk) 13:19, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

The article has been rolled back, twice, to the version of June 17 by , meaning all of my edits described above have been reverted. I have asked please for in-depth reasons for this, as the edit summaries don't explain it. In order to resolve disputes, discussion is required. I'm also pinging, , (aka Alex2006), , and , as they have been active in related discussions on this talk page. Please feel free to invite anyone else who may be interested in working towards a consensus, thanks. --IamNotU (talk) 17:35, 29 June 2018 (UTC)

What is the name of the dough?
I'm not able to find a good reference for the name of the dough itself, in Arabic, if there is one that is different from kanafeh. Someone wrote phyllo, but that article says phyllo is of Ottoman origin, with a Greek name... So I think that's probably not the most appropriate term to use. Is there a better one? --IamNotU (talk) 05:54, 25 June 2018 (UTC)
 * I think the dough is called tel kadayif in Turkish- kadayif redirects here but it shouldn't. It's often prepared without cheese. I'm going to try get a separate article up for it later tonight. Seraphim System  ( talk ) 03:41, 9 November 2018 (UTC)
 * The article does already cover this. Largoplazo (talk) 03:52, 9 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes, I see it amongst the jumble of foreign language terms in the lede. Even so, kadayif is not only the name of the dough, it's also the name of the dessert made with the dough. I'm surprised it doesn't already have a stand alone article. Seraphim System ( talk ) 04:00, 9 November 2018 (UTC)
 * It's not only in the lead; in the "Variants" section there's a subsection for Balkan/Greek kadaif/kataifi, and for Turkish kadayıf (what you are talking about), though it doesn't actually say anything about the latter. I suppose it may be a good idea to split some of these things out, because I don't think they are really sub-types of kanafeh, though kataif/kadayef and kanafeh are often listed as synonyms. Personally I would prefer a more general, comprehensive article that can talk about the whole family of qatayef-related dishes, which have an interesting and complex history. That's what books like the Oxford Companion to Food do, and this article to some extent tries to do. Unfortunately, it seems like it's impossible to choose a name for such an article, and avoid people edit-warring over the real true authentic origin of everything...
 * Kadayıf comes from Arabic qatayef/katayif/etc., which is a pancake or crepe, ususally stuffed and folded into a half-moon shape and deep-fried, a recipe that goes back to the 9th century or earlier. That corresponds more or less to the Turkish yassı kadayıf or taş kadayıf. But in Turkish, kadayıf is used in a broader sense, so that tel kadayıf, "string pankake", is the angel-hair pastry made with the same type of batter (kataifi in Greek, and I still don't know what in Arabic, if it's not called kanafeh itself). That didn't appear until much later, somewhere around the 14th or 15th century. There is also Turkish ekmek kadayıfı, which is more like a bread or cake. On the other hand, desserts made with tel kadayıf/kataifi are sometimes just called kadayıf/kataifi themselves, though there are also numerous forms of those, such as dolma kadayıf (which is basically the same as mbrwma kanafeh but with nuts instead of cheese), and flat trays that are cut into squares, similar to kanafeh/künefe but without cheese, and other variations, also in various countries. They can be layered with nuts or clotted cream, which corresponds more or less to Egyptian and Syrian versions of kanafeh using those ingredients... So it's not totally clear to me what the best way to split things would be. There are several things that are basically the same but with different names, and things that are different with the same name...
 * For example, should there be one article for strictly-Turkish kadayıf, and if so, should it include all things called kadayıf, or only the one dessert made with tel kadayıf (of which there are several forms)? And in the latter case, should it also include Greek kataif, which is basically the same thing, as well as that of numerous other countries? And then, in that case, what name to use? And what would be put as "origin" - Turkish, Greek, Arab? There could be an article about the tel kadayıf/kataifi pastry, and all the different things made with it, including kanafeh/künefe, desserts called kadayıf/kataifi, and non-dessert dishes that also use it. But again, what to call it? Or must we have separate articles for each country's version, in their own language, Palestinian knafeh, Egyptian kunafa, Turkish künefe, Greek kataifi, Balkan kadaif, Turkish kadayef, and all the other regional variations, so as not to offend anyone's national pride? --IamNotU (talk) 11:56, 9 November 2018 (UTC)
 * It's not a variant either, and it has nothing to do with ekmek kadayifi, which is a type of bread pudding. If anything künefe seems to be a modern variant of kadayıf. Sources like this from OUP are talking about Qatayef, which may be related to the modern day kunefe, but the common usage of kadayıf today is not the same as künefe. Everytime I link kadayıf from an article and mean kadayıf it points to künefe which is a substantially different dessert. Most sources have künefe as a modern dessert based on the historic qatayef and kadayıf. Künefe always has a filling, the traditional kadayıf does not always have a filling. It's explained in this book. Seraphim System  ( talk ) 17:49, 30 November 2018 (UTC)
 * In Turkish, kadayıf means several things, including the string-pastry (tel kadayıf) itself, and various forms of desserts made with it. I've seen künefe called peynirli kadayıf (cheese kadayıf). I understand the problem with wanting to link to a dessert called kadayıf, by which you mean something like this or numerous variations (eg., , , etc.) or one of various pre-packaged products, since there's no information about those in this article. That could be fixed by adding such information. I also understand that those things are not known as künefe, which in Turkey is only the cheese-filled kadayıf. That's more of a problem. The same can be said about Greek and other countries' kadaif/kataifi/etc., both the string-pastry itself and the dishes, eg. , , , etc., none of which are called kanafeh.
 * My question is how to deal with it, while minimizing the potential for edit-warring over national origin claims, and also avoiding a proliferation of separate articles about the same subject, with different non-English-language names. There might be an article about the string-pastry, which is itself called kanafeh in Arabic (or other variations, like knefeh sha'r (hair kanafeh) in Lebanon), (tel) kadayıf in Turkish, kataifi in Greek, etc. What name would be used for the article? Is there a common English name? Why should we use kadayıf instead of kataifi, or kadaif for example, which are more common in English? Would you propose a kadayıf article that is strictly about Turkish things, and excludes Greek or Arab versions? I would be wary of one article saying "Kataifi is a Greek string-like pastry", and another saying "Kadayıf is a Turkish string-like pastry"...
 * I don't think that kanafeh can be called a "modern variant" of "traditional (tel) kadayıf". Mentions of sweets called kanafeh go back to the 13th century or earlier, while the string-pastry with batter dribbled from a perforated cup doesn't show up until the 15th. To my knowledge there's no evidence of where, or with what name (kanafeh or tel kadayıf), the string-pastry originated that's any more specific than "somewhere in the Ottoman Empire, sometime after the 13th century". The string-pastry may have originated with Arab kanafeh makers, possibly even in Nablus for all we know, as the kanafeh dish evolved from earlier forms where qatayef-like pancakes were cut into strips after cooking, and was then adapted into the many other dishes that now use it, and renamed tel kadayıf in Turkish. Or it may have arisen independently, perhaps in Anatolia, and been popular before being incorporated into the kanafeh dish. I would be very interested to find reliable historical sources about that question! As it stands though, I'm not aware of any that support either viewpoint. --IamNotU (talk) 18:12, 11 December 2018 (UTC)
 * In Turkish, kadayıf means several things, including the string-pastry (tel kadayıf) itself, and various forms of desserts made with it. I've seen künefe called peynirli kadayıf (cheese kadayıf). I understand the problem with wanting to link to a dessert called kadayıf, by which you mean something like this or numerous variations (eg., , , etc.) or one of various pre-packaged products, since there's no information about those in this article. That could be fixed by adding such information. I also understand that those things are not known as künefe, which in Turkey is only the cheese-filled kadayıf. That's more of a problem. The same can be said about Greek and other countries' kadaif/kataifi/etc., both the string-pastry itself and the dishes, eg. , , , etc., none of which are called kanafeh.
 * My question is how to deal with it, while minimizing the potential for edit-warring over national origin claims, and also avoiding a proliferation of separate articles about the same subject, with different non-English-language names. There might be an article about the string-pastry, which is itself called kanafeh in Arabic (or other variations, like knefeh sha'r (hair kanafeh) in Lebanon), (tel) kadayıf in Turkish, kataifi in Greek, etc. What name would be used for the article? Is there a common English name? Why should we use kadayıf instead of kataifi, or kadaif for example, which are more common in English? Would you propose a kadayıf article that is strictly about Turkish things, and excludes Greek or Arab versions? I would be wary of one article saying "Kataifi is a Greek string-like pastry", and another saying "Kadayıf is a Turkish string-like pastry"...
 * I don't think that kanafeh can be called a "modern variant" of "traditional (tel) kadayıf". Mentions of sweets called kanafeh go back to the 13th century or earlier, while the string-pastry with batter dribbled from a perforated cup doesn't show up until the 15th. To my knowledge there's no evidence of where, or with what name (kanafeh or tel kadayıf), the string-pastry originated that's any more specific than "somewhere in the Ottoman Empire, sometime after the 13th century". The string-pastry may have originated with Arab kanafeh makers, possibly even in Nablus for all we know, as the kanafeh dish evolved from earlier forms where qatayef-like pancakes were cut into strips after cooking, and was then adapted into the many other dishes that now use it, and renamed tel kadayıf in Turkish. Or it may have arisen independently, perhaps in Anatolia, and been popular before being incorporated into the kanafeh dish. I would be very interested to find reliable historical sources about that question! As it stands though, I'm not aware of any that support either viewpoint. --IamNotU (talk) 18:12, 11 December 2018 (UTC)
 * I don't think that kanafeh can be called a "modern variant" of "traditional (tel) kadayıf". Mentions of sweets called kanafeh go back to the 13th century or earlier, while the string-pastry with batter dribbled from a perforated cup doesn't show up until the 15th. To my knowledge there's no evidence of where, or with what name (kanafeh or tel kadayıf), the string-pastry originated that's any more specific than "somewhere in the Ottoman Empire, sometime after the 13th century". The string-pastry may have originated with Arab kanafeh makers, possibly even in Nablus for all we know, as the kanafeh dish evolved from earlier forms where qatayef-like pancakes were cut into strips after cooking, and was then adapted into the many other dishes that now use it, and renamed tel kadayıf in Turkish. Or it may have arisen independently, perhaps in Anatolia, and been popular before being incorporated into the kanafeh dish. I would be very interested to find reliable historical sources about that question! As it stands though, I'm not aware of any that support either viewpoint. --IamNotU (talk) 18:12, 11 December 2018 (UTC)
 * I don't think that kanafeh can be called a "modern variant" of "traditional (tel) kadayıf". Mentions of sweets called kanafeh go back to the 13th century or earlier, while the string-pastry with batter dribbled from a perforated cup doesn't show up until the 15th. To my knowledge there's no evidence of where, or with what name (kanafeh or tel kadayıf), the string-pastry originated that's any more specific than "somewhere in the Ottoman Empire, sometime after the 13th century". The string-pastry may have originated with Arab kanafeh makers, possibly even in Nablus for all we know, as the kanafeh dish evolved from earlier forms where qatayef-like pancakes were cut into strips after cooking, and was then adapted into the many other dishes that now use it, and renamed tel kadayıf in Turkish. Or it may have arisen independently, perhaps in Anatolia, and been popular before being incorporated into the kanafeh dish. I would be very interested to find reliable historical sources about that question! As it stands though, I'm not aware of any that support either viewpoint. --IamNotU (talk) 18:12, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

Contested edits
As the article has been reverted without explanation now three times by to the old June 17 version, I'm asking for comments from her or anyone else interested, about whatever issues there may be, thank-you. --IamNotU (talk) 02:40, 11 September 2018 (UTC)
 * She's actually been taking it all the way back at least to her May 8 version. Largoplazo (talk) 04:02, 11 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Wow, even further: December 7, 2017. Largoplazo (talk) 04:07, 11 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Refer to previous discussions and you will know why!.Sarah Canbel (talk) 18:45, 29 November 2018 (UTC)
 * I see no discussions above that explain why you are reverting the article. Largoplazo (talk) 19:00, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

al-'Umari
has come out of retirement to make this edit: stating that al-'Umari wrote about kanafeh in part 24 of his 14th-century encyclopedia Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār. I've reverted it for now, because I'm not convinced that the added text accurately represents whatever may be written there, and because it's not written in an encyclopedic tone.

This seems like the story (one of several, said to have taken place in various times and places) mentioned in the next paragraph. I would be interested to find a quotation of al-'Umari regarding it. I'm not sure if the book has been translated to English, but there's a 1927 French translation, as well as the Arabic. I can't find it online though. Does anyone have access to it? Thanks. --IamNotU (talk) 14:38, 4 September 2020 (UTC)


 * https://books-library.online/files/books-library.online-06261048Lo3H8.pdf this is link of the book page number 282
 * last paragraph al-'Umari have mention that info you can revise and talk Ahmedhamdy007 (talk) 15:39, 4 September 2020 (UTC)
 * , thank you for the reference, I'll take a look. In the meantime, please have a little patience and don't keep making the same edit until we can agree about how to proceed, thanks. --IamNotU (talk) 15:57, 4 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Ok, so it looks like the text consists of this:
 * Ok, so it looks like the text consists of this:

وكان معاوية يجع ني رمضان جوعأ شديدآ، فشكا ذلك لابن أثال(١١) الطبيب، فاتخذ له الكنافة، فكان يأكلها في السحور، فهو أول ض اتخذها.

(١١) ابن آثال: طبيب نحراني من أهل الثام، كان من ا خعاء معاوية، خبير بالادوية والموم،


 * I may be wrong, but the best I can understand of the 14th-century Arabic is something like:
 * "Muawiyah used to be hungry in Ramadan, and he complained about that to Ibn Athal (11) the doctor, so he took kunafa for him, so he used to eat it during the pre-dawn meal, so it was the first time he took it. (11) Ibn Athal: A Naharani doctor from the people of Tham, he was from the intersection of Mu`awiyah, an expert in medicine and motherhood, and his news is abundant in Tabaqat Ibn Abi Ahiba."
 * It doesn't seem to me to indicate that the doctor invented kunafa, just that he prescribed it. It also sounds more like it was the first time Muawiyah ate it, not that he was the first person ever to eat it?
 * Since al-'Umari was writing about events almost seven hundred years earlier, we can't take it as fact; it may well be an apocryphal story. If it was true, we could expect that kunafa would have been mentioned in al-Warraq's Kitab al-Tabikh, but it wasn't. The earliest-known mention is from the 13th century. He may have used the word kunafa, which was the name of a common dish in his time (though not necessarily the same thing as the one we know today), to refer to some sweet in the story that wasn't the same thing... Still, it's very interesting to have this historical quotation showing that the story about the doctor prescribing kunafa goes back to at least the 14th century, thanks! I'll try to figure out a way to include a mention of al-'Umari the article, in the section that already discusses this story (and others). I'll wait a bit longer to see if there are any other comments. --IamNotU (talk) 18:11, 4 September 2020 (UTC)

Ahmedhamdy007 (talk) 18:57, 4 September 2020 (UTC) i think your are not arabic talker فهو اول من اتخذها means in Arabic first person ever to eat it ,al-'Umari was nearer from us to the event even all those books how are talking about the orgin there is gap between them and the story, al-'Umari was in mamalik period and he died in cairo if the dish was in mamlik or fatmid period he must have the story, if you want me to add a sentence that this is a narration from the book it is not a certain fact i will do, i hope we will rich an agreement, and we can put all that have been mentioned in the old books and people will decide, thank you

Kadaif
Kadaif is not Kanafeh. Kadaif are Noodles. Garagarage1979 (talk) 12:05, 13 October 2020 (UTC)
 * You keep saying that (in your edit summary and on my talk page) while ignoring the response I've give you, which is that it's irrelevant. You appear to be under the misimpression that redirection of one term to another implies that they're synonyms. You're mistaken. A redirect may lead to a synonym, but it no way implies that the redirect term and the destination topic are synonyms. As I already explained to you on my talk page, redirects often lead to related topics, where information on the redirected topic can be found when it doesn't have an article of it's own. Largoplazo (talk) 15:31, 13 October 2020 (UTC)
 * In what language? In Arabic, the string/noodle pastry is called kanafeh. So is the cheese or cream-filled dessert made with it (but also with other pastry). This article covers both things. In Turkish, the same string-pastry is called tel kadayif and some stuffed desserts made with it (which would be called kanafeh in Arabic) are called kadayif, but a cheese-filled version in Hatay is called künefe. So, at least in one sense, "kadayif" and "kanafeh" are in fact synonyms.
 * The article currently at kadaif, calling it a "Turkish noodle", appears to be a "pov fork" of this one. There has been no evidence presented that the string-pastry is of Turkish origin, see the "History" section of the article. It's found from the Balkans to Egypt. The most common name for it in English seems to be kataifi, from the Greek, see for example Google Ngrams. I don't know where the spelling "kadaif" comes from; the one source given there, Martha Stewart's website, says it's Albanian. I'm not necessarily opposed to a separate article for the string-pastry and for desserts made from it, though I'm not yet convinced it's necessary. If so, we would need to determine the MOS:COMMONNAME. But I'm definitely opposed to having multiple articles claiming different national origins or ownership for the same thing: Turkish kadayif, Greek kataifi, Lebanese knefeh sha'r, Albanian kadaif, etc. See also the discussion from 2018 in above. --IamNotU (talk) 23:54, 13 October 2020 (UTC)
 * you talking Arabic ?.... you know Turkish ?....... Garagarage1979 (talk) 07:03, 14 October 2020 (UTC)
 * in Arabic it is called: Knafeh. the Noodles is Kadaif. and "Qatayef" is something else. is it really that disturbing ?. Garagarage1979 (talk) 07:07, 14 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Qatayef it's dumplings stuffed with cheese. Kaddif is a flat cake. Garagarage1979 (talk) 07:13, 14 October 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm familiar with the different foods and their history. You still don't say where you're getting this information. You'll need to cite sources to verify what you say about the names, especially if you're claiming that the pastry dough (it's not "noodles") is commonly called "kadaif" in Arabic, Turkish, or English. We can't just take your word for it.
 * In Turkish, the pastry itself is kadayıf (or tel kadayıf, or çiğ kadayıf (raw kadayif)) and the cooked preparations or finished dessert are also kadayıf, tel kadayıf, etc., e.g., , except for the cheese version künefe. I haven't seen it spelled "kadaif" in Turkish. Google books search results for "kadaif" seem to be mostly Jewish cookbooks, so that may be what Jewish Israelis call it (also found here: ). There was an etymology book showing it in various languages of the Balkans being "kadaif" or something close: . On the other hand, Gil Marks in the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food says: "Kanafeh is a very fine semolina dough that is shredded and made into pastries. The dough is usually coated with butter and baked or fried.", and gives "Other names: Arabic: knafeh; Egyptian: konafa, kunafa; Greek: kadaifi, kataifi; Persian: ghaatayef; Turkish: kadayif, künefe." - but not "kadaif" - and these are all referring to the shredded pastry itself, in addition to dishes made with it. So far, I have not heard any strong arguments for why Wikipedia should prefer "kadayif" (let alone "kadaif") over "kanafeh" for the article's title. I'm also not really seeing good reasons to split the article in two, one for the dough and one for the various desserts made from it, when for the most part, in whichever language, the same word is used for both, or there isn't really a distinction made. We don't have separate articles for "pizza" and "pizza dough". The sources cited in the article cover them both together in the same sections too. If we did split it, why should we not use the Arabic word for the pastry too? Even if we were to use the Turkish nomenclature, again I don't see why we'd need a separate article for "kadayıf the pastry dough" and "kadayıf the pastry dessert".
 * About Arabic, I'm not seeing evidence of Arabs calling the dough "kadaif". It's called "knafe" or "osmaliyah" in Lebanon. This article in Arabic all about making the dough calls it "kunafa", or "kunafa baladi" ("traditional", for the handmade style):, as does this BBC Arabic report:  (Google translation: . This video from Nablus calls it "kanafeh dough" (عجينة الكنافة): , and even in this video from Hatay in Turkey, in Arabic, it's referred to as "Turkish kanafeh dough" (عجينة الكنافة التركية), not "kadayıf": . This blog by an English-speaking Egyptian calls it kunafa, though she also acknowledges other words for it, "kunafa or kataifi/kadaifi pastry", in the recipe:.
 * In other words, what you say about the names may be true in your neighborhood, but we need to consider an international viewpoint. --IamNotU (talk) 00:21, 15 October 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm coming to realize that I was a bit premature in writing some of what I've written because, while the noodle and the cheesy pastry and the rolled pancake are three things, each of which meriting coverage, it appears to me know that "kadayif" and "kadaif" and "katayef" and "qatayef" are all different anglicizations of what in Arabic is one word, قطايف, which might be romanized as qaṭayif or qaTayif. We're in the same territory, as far as disambiguation is concerned, as we are with biscuit, torta (it's a cake! no, it's a sandwich!), and "tortilla" (which we're disambiguating here as tortilla (the Mexican flatbread) versus Spanish tortilla (the Spanish omelette [not to be confused with what Americans call a "Spanish omelette"]), but in the respective areas where the term is used with each of the meanings, it's used unqualified). And we have WP:COMMONNAME on top of that: are any of these meanings individually, or are they collectively, more likely known to English speakers under the Arabic romanization or under the Turkish (using "d" instead of "t")? Largoplazo (talk) 12:08, 14 October 2020 (UTC)
 * This has turned out to be a rather complicated question, and several people are now involved in how to resolve it with a view to keeping several topics with overlapping names straight, to arrange the information about them in a clear and systematic way. Therefore, please don't make unilateral changes until a consensus has been reached. See WP:Consensus. Largoplazo (talk) 12:12, 14 October 2020 (UTC)

Since there has been no further discussion, and no consensus to split or fork the article, I've restored the redirect of "kadaif" to this article. It has much more information and sources about the subject. I remain open to suggestions for further improvement. --IamNotU (talk) 02:34, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Turkish Kanafeh
Turkish Kanafeh is made with Semolina. the Arabic Kanafeh is made with "Kadaif Noodles". Garagarage1979 (talk) 12:47, 18 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Your comments are not helpful, because you don't provide any sources or links. "Because I say so" is not a valid argument on Wikipedia.
 * Also, you appear to be ill-informed about the subject. The statement above is wrong. Turkish künefe and Arab kanafeh dishes are not significantly different. Both can be made either with fine semolina (farkeh, for kanafeh na'ameh كنافة ناعمة) or with kunafeh/kadayif/kataifi shredded dough. See for example: and . Furthermore the latter are generally not described by English speakers as "noodles", which are made from a thick dough that is extruded or cut; kunafeh/kadayif/kataifi are made from a thin pancake batter that is dribbled in streams onto a pan, and often described as "shredded phyllo dough". All of this is explained in the article and the cited sources. --IamNotU (talk) 22:17, 18 October 2020 (UTC)
 * I don't think we should call them noodles. Some blogs call it "vermicelli" but others disagree explicitly. The sources are lacking. Spudlace (talk) 22:46, 18 October 2020 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 14 April 2024
I would like to add a section about the cultural significance of knafeh for as a man of middle eastern descent living in america things such as knafeh have kept me connected to my culture here is the section below. i hope you can take this edit into consideration -sincerely FSPCDS24

Cultural Significance Knafeh holds significant cultural importance across the Middle East. Knafeh has been served not just as a dessert but as a symbol of celebration and community through the ages. Knafeh can be found in festive occasions such as weddings, Muslim holidays like Ramadan and Eid, and other special gatherings 2. Families and communities pass down their own unique recipes and techniques to make the desert, contributing to its vast cultural footprint 3. Knafeh's versatile ability allows different countries and communities putting their own twist on the traditional dessert. Knafeh variations such as Palestinian Knafeh Nabulsieh, the Turkish Künefe, or the Lebanese Knafeh, reflect the significance and diversity of Knafeh 4 5. Through times of sorrow and success Knafeh continues to demonstrate the warmth and hospitality of cultural traditions 6. Knafeh has played a significant role in the cultural significance of the Middle East and beyond. (if you allow me to add this i have sources for my information that i will add if i get permission) FSPCDS24 (talk) 18:56, 14 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made.
 * It's a common misconception that edit requests give the requester permission to edit the page, which isn't the case. Please include all the text you want added, including citations, so somebody else can add it.


 * This should also be revised to an impartial tone, phrases like "Through times of sorrow and success Knafeh continues to demonstrate the warmth and hospitality of cultural traditions" should be removed entirely (see MOS:FLOWERY). Jamedeus (talk) 19:10, 14 April 2024 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 13 May 2024
Region or state section in the Infobox should be expanded as there are countries which are not obviously in Arab world but have PGI protected "Knafeh" types. I suggest to change "Region or state" from "Arab World" to "Arab World, Turkey, Iran, Greece". Ishinea (talk) 16:18, 13 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. —TechnoSquirrel69 (sigh) 16:48, 13 May 2024 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 9 June 2024
change Place of origin:Nablus Orign of knafeh is in Egypt as the original dessert was brought into Egypt with the Fatimid who built the city of Cairo in 969 and made Egypt the centre of their state and some sources say it was made by the egyptians to ummayeds only the nabulsi knafeh is the Palestinian version of it Dr Abbas Mohammed El Andalusi (talk) 19:52, 9 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. I don't disagree that the treatment of Nablusi knafeh as a classic might be getting mistaken (by many) with Nablus being the point of origin of knafeh, but we can't write specify information on the basis of an edit request without suitable sourcing. Largoplazo (talk) 23:36, 9 June 2024 (UTC)