Kanafeh

Knafeh (Arabic كنافة), also pronounced "kunafah" or "kunfeh," is a kind of sweet made of pastry, cheese, and syrup. The knafeh from the city of Nablus (called Knafeh Nabulsiyye) is the most famous throughout the Arab world, and also very popular among Israelis.

Knafeh dough comes in three types:

• khishneh (Arabic خشنة) "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 and more pastry; or the khishneh kunafah is rolled around the cheese. A thick syrup, consisting of sugar, water and a couple of lemon juice drops, is poured on the pastry during the last minutes of cooking.

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