This sweet, sticky, cheesy treat has entered contemporary cuisine!

The traditional dessert is usually cooked in deep sheet pans and served warm. It takes a certain skill to master knafeh’s artisanal elements and its fans are fanatical and often unforgiving.

Varying from country to country, village to village, and even household to household, knafeh recipes depend on a few key flavors and raw materials:

Kadaif flour-and-water noodles (or “hairs,” as they are referred to in Hebrew) are best made by master artisans. The high-quality kind are produced in specialty factories from batter poured through a sieve or draped with a special tool onto a moving heated circle that quickly cooks the angel hair-thin strands as they spin.

Goat or sheep cheese is essential. The most classic choice for making the type of knafeh enjoyed in Israel is Nabulsi (Nablus), a soft-brined cheese that is firm yet has the ability to melt.

Because Nabulsi is hard to find outside of the region, many recipes call for mozzarella in combination with a softer cheese to try to fake the unique way Nabulsi cheese reacts to heat. 

Alternatively, other goat or sheep cheese of similar texture can be used in the dish, or even fresh ricotta, which is often used in knafeh that comes in the form of a rolled log.