Kadaif, kadayif, kadayıf, kataifi, kadaifi, katayef or kataïf (Arabic: قطايف) is a family of Middle Eastern pastry products.[1] In modern Turkish usage, kadayıf often refers specifically to fine shredded pastry dough used in desserts such as knafeh and tel kadayıf.[2][3][4] Depending on context, the term may refer either to the dough itself or to finished desserts made from it.[5][4][6]
Etymology
editThe Turkish word kadayıf derives from Ottoman Turkish قطائف (ḳaṭāyıf / ḳaṭaʿif), from Arabic قطايف (qaṭāʾif).[2] In Arabic culinary usage, qaṭāʾif referred to an older family of pastries,[1][7] while in Turkish the term later came to denote both the shredded dough and the desserts prepared from it.[5][4]
History
editKadayif is of Middle Eastern origin. Medieval Arabic qaṭāʾif is generally regarded as an antecedent of Ottoman and Turkish kadayıf forms, which developed into a broader category of pastries and desserts.[3][8] In Turkish cuisine, kadayıf came to include several distinct preparations, including tel kadayıf and other regional or finished dessert forms.[8][4]
According to The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, the oldest known qaṭāʾif appear in a tenth-century Abbasid cookbook.[7] Mary Işın writes that kadayif originated as a griddle cake in medieval Arab cuisine and was transformed in early Ottoman times into pastry threads cooked on a griddle, a form that later spread widely in the Near East.[9][10] Turkish scholarship likewise treats kadayıf as an Arabic-derived sweet that later developed multiple forms in Seljuk, Ottoman, and modern Turkish cuisine.[8][11][12]
Preparation and usage
edit
Modern tel kadayıf consists of very fine strands resembling vermicelli.[3] It is produced from a thin batter made with special-purpose kadayıf flour, poured through fine openings onto a heated rotating griddle, where it cooks into hair-like strands.[13][4] These strands may be sold fresh, refrigerated, or frozen as an intermediate product, or used in finished desserts.[4] In Türkiye, tel kadayıf is covered by standard 10344/T3 as a semi-processed flour-and-water product.[14]
Finished desserts made from kadayıf strands are typically baked or fried and then soaked in sugar syrup.[15][8] The strands are also known as kadayif noodles, string kadayif, wire kadayif, tray kadayif, and tel kadayıf, although some of these names are also used for finished desserts.[8][3]
References
edit- ^ a b "Qataʾif". The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford University Press. 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ^ a b "kadayıf". Nişanyan Sözlük (in Turkish). Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ^ a b c d Krondl 2011, p. 105.
- ^ a b c d e f Eckhardt 2017, p. 22.
- ^ a b Walczak-Mikołajczakowa 2023, p. 97.
- ^ Savlak & Köse 2013, p. 125–130.
- ^ a b "Qataif". The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ^ a b c d e Bezirgan 2024, p. 15.
- ^ Işın, Priscilla Mary (2013). Sherbet and Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1780761749.
- ^ "Sherbet and Spice excerpt". Academia.edu. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ^ Güney, Sezen (2022). "Foods spreading from Turkish cuisine to the world". Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Tourism. 7 (2): 217–228. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ^ "Geçmişten Günümüze Türk Tatlı Tarihi". Journal of Food and Nutrition Research (in Turkish). 2025. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ^ Savlak & Köse 2013, p. 128.
- ^ Seyyedcheraghi, Kotancilar & Karaoglu 2019, p. 4007.
- ^ Başar & Boz 2023.
Sources
edit- Eckhardt, R. (2017). "Kadayif". Istanbul and Beyond: Exploring the Diverse Cuisines of Turkey. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-544-44431-7. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
- Walczak-Mikołajczakowa, Mariola (2023-04-23). "Turkish Borrowings in Bulgarian Lexis Related to Cuisine and Cooking" (PDF). Przegląd Humanistyczny (66/4): 93–101. doi:10.31338/2657-599X.ph.2022-4.7.
- Krondl, M. (2011). Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-56976-954-6. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
- Seyyedcheraghi, K; Kotancilar, H G; Karaoglu, M M (2019). "Determination of acrylamide and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) values as affected by frying duration and temperature levels during the preparation of tray kadayif dessert". Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. 17 (2): 4007–4017. Bibcode:2019ApEER..17.4007S. doi:10.15666/aeer/1702_40074017.
- Bezirgan, Muammer (2024-06-06), Turkish Desserts and the Place of Desserts in Turkish Cuisine (PDF), doi:10.5281/ZENODO.11509656, ISBN 978-2-38236-680-6
- Başar, Burak; Boz, Hüseyin (2023-05-04). "Effect of different oils and sugar syrups on the properties of tray kadayif (traditional Turkish dessert)". Journal of Ethnic Foods. 10 (1) 13. doi:10.1186/s42779-023-00178-3. ISSN 2352-6181.
- Savlak, Nazlı Yeyinli; Köse, Ergun (2013). "Bazı Özel Amaçlı Unların Kalite Özellikleri" [Quality Characteristics of Some Special Purpose Flours]. Akademik Gıda (in Turkish). 11 (2): 125–130.
