Künefe: Turkey’s Hot Cheese Dessert from Hatay

The tray comes to the table still sizzling: a round of golden, crisp pastry strands soaked in syrup, with a layer of soft white cheese inside that stretches when you lift your fork. On top, there is a sprinkle of green pistachio. That is künefe, the warm cheese dessert of southern Turkey.

Here is where it comes from, how cooks make it and where to eat the real thing.

What is künefe?

Cooks make künefe with tel kadayıf, fine shredded strands of pastry, layered around an unsalted fresh cheese and lightly cooked. Then a not-too-thick sugar syrup goes over the top. Cooks use fresh cheeses close to raw milk, such as künefe cheese, lor, Antep or Urfa cheese.

It always comes hot or warm, and almost always with a glass of water. The water takes the edge off all that sugar, especially on a hot day.

A long road from the Arab world

The dessert belongs to a large family called knafeh, popular across the Arab world, especially in Egypt and the Levant.

Antakya künefe, the Hatay classic

In Turkey, the best-known version comes from Antakya in Hatay province. Cooks fill it with a soft local cheese and cover it with a syrup of water, sugar and lemon juice. Antakya dairies make this cheese for künefe alone, fresh and without salt, so that it stretches in the pan. Antakya dairies make this cheese for künefe alone, fresh and without salt, so that it stretches in the pan. In 2023, the European Union registered Antakya Künefesi as a protected geographical indication; in Türkiye, it has been registered since 2008.

In the traditional method, the cook heats the two layers of pastry around the cheese separately. In practice, the cook turns a round tray slowly over a low flame, then flips it with a skilled hand to cook the other side. Finally come the syrup and the pistachios. The finished künefe is thin, and the cheese should stretch into strings as you eat.

Other regional versions

• Mersin künefe: baked in a large tray, kept warm on a turning stove, then cut into rectangles.
• Kilis kaymaklı kırma künefe: called “heaven’s mud”, made with shredded pastry, pistachios and clarified butter under layers of cream from local goats and sheep.
• Şanlıurfa peynirli kadayıf: the cheese kadayıf of Urfa, registered as a geographical indication in 2022.

In Antakya, pair a künefe with the Roman mosaics of the Hatay Archaeology Museum.

For the food of the south, see our Adana city and food tour.

How to eat it like a local

• Eat it at once, while the cheese is still soft and stretchy.
• Add a scoop of Turkish ice cream if the shop offers it.
• Finish with tea: a glass of Turkish tea cuts the sweetness.
• In Urfa, try it after a plate of lahmacun, then compare it with Gaziantep baklava.