Konafa
Konafa, one of Ramadan's main treats in Egypt, was a main dessert in royal banquets and has become an icon of the holy month over the years.
Konafa resembles handmade pasta, yet with much finer flour threads. It is mixed with butter, sugar, nuts, and sweet fillings and baked until golden.
According to Mo'agam Ramadan (Ramadan Dictionary), Konafa dates back to Moawia Ibn Abi Sufian (661-680 AD), the founder of the Umayyad Caliphate.
Moawia was first presented with Konafa as a Sohour food to help combat his hunger during fasting the next day. Hence, "Konafa" comes from "Kanaf" in Arabic, which means shelter and protection from hunger during fasting.
Some references date Konafa to the Mamluke Era during the reign of Seliman Ibn Abdel Malak. In contrast, others insist that it was a treat that Egyptians made to greet the Fatimid Khalifa.
The European travellers described it thoroughly during the 18th and 19th centuries and named it the Egyptian Pasta.
Moreover, Egyptian Fiqh scholar and historian Galal El-Din El-Seiouty wrote poems in praise of Konafa in his book Manhal Al Lataef fi Al Konafa wal Atayef (The Source of Graces in Konafa and Qattayef).
One of the famous Arab sayings about Konafa is, "Whoever eats Konafa develops a sense of humour, eloquence, and glamour, gains wisdom, and loses dullness."
Egypt has two types of Konafa: one baked through automated bakeries, Konafa machine, and the other handmade, baked in a local rounded brick oven, usually one metre in diameter and one metre and a quarter in height.
If you are lucky, you could watch the Kanafany, the baker, draw a loose mixture of flour in circular shapes on the hot, rounded copper tray on top of a brick oven whose fire comes out from a small hole in the middle.
When fresh out of the oven, the golden Konafa stuffed with butter and nuts is topped with sugar syrup.
Some classic fillings include Nabulsy cheese, cream, and pistachios. However, modern fillings introduced chocolate and mango to the authentic treat.
Until now, Konafa remains the centrepiece of Ramadan's royal banquets.
Qattayef
Qattayef, which means delicate, easy-to-grab bites, dates back to the Abbasid or Umayyad reign.
Some even relate it back to the Fatimids, when a baker invented small stuffed delicacies as a Ramadan dessert. He made them from the same dough as Konafa but shaped them into little circles, like pancakes, that were stuffed and fried.
Qattayef is presented with nuts on Iftar and Sohour and is sometimes served as savoury with cheese fillings.
It inspired poets to describe it extensively in their poems, sometimes favouring it over Konafa.
Konafa and Qattayef were very important Ramadan items in the past, so much so that people once filed a petition to the government objecting to the increase in their prices in the 10th century (Hijra).
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