{{Short description|Middle Eastern pastry dough}} {{outline}} [[File:CAM00479-1.jpg|thumb|Kadayif strands, used for preparing different desserts, including knafeh and tel kadayıf]] '''Kadaif''', '''kadayif''', '''kadayıf''', '''kataifi''', '''kadaifi''', '''katayef''' or '''kataïf''' ({{langx|ar|قطايف}}) is a family of Middle Eastern pastry products.<ref name="OxfordFoodQataif">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Qataʾif |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to Food |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |url=https://app.ckbk.com/reference/food77337c17s001e002/qataif |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> In modern Turkish usage, ''kadayıf'' often refers specifically to fine shredded pastry dough used in desserts such as knafeh and tel kadayıf.<ref name="NisanyanKadayif">{{cite web |title=kadayıf |url=https://www.nisanyansozluk.com/kelime/kadayıf |website=Nişanyan Sözlük |language=tr |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>{{sfn|Krondl|2011|p=105}}{{sfn|Eckhardt|2017|p=22}} Depending on context, the term may refer either to the dough itself or to finished desserts made from it.{{sfn|Walczak-Mikołajczakowa|2023|p=97}}{{sfn|Eckhardt|2017|p=22}}{{sfn|Savlak|Köse|2013|p=125–130}}
== Etymology == The Turkish word {{lang|tr|kadayıf}} derives from Ottoman Turkish {{lang|ota|قطائف}} ({{lang|ota-Latn|ḳaṭāyıf}} / {{lang|ota-Latn|ḳaṭaʿif}}), from Arabic {{lang|ar|قطايف}} ({{lang|ar-Latn|qaṭāʾif}}).<ref name="NisanyanKadayif" /> In Arabic culinary usage, {{lang|ar-Latn|qaṭāʾif}} referred to an older family of pastries,<ref name="OxfordFoodQataif" /><ref name="OxfordSugarQataif">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Qataif |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 |url=https://app.ckbk.com/reference/swee13396c17s001e001/qataif |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> while in Turkish the term later came to denote both the shredded dough and the desserts prepared from it.{{sfn|Walczak-Mikołajczakowa|2023|p=97}}{{sfn|Eckhardt|2017|p=22}}
== History == Kadayif is of Middle Eastern origin. Medieval Arabic {{lang|ar-Latn|qaṭāʾif}} is generally regarded as an antecedent of Ottoman and Turkish ''kadayıf'' forms, which developed into a broader category of pastries and desserts.{{sfn|Krondl|2011|p=105}}{{sfn|Bezirgan|2024|p=15}} In Turkish cuisine, ''kadayıf'' came to include several distinct preparations, including ''tel kadayıf'' and other regional or finished dessert forms.{{sfn|Bezirgan|2024|p=15}}{{sfn|Eckhardt|2017|p=22}}
According to ''The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets'', the oldest known ''qaṭāʾif'' appear in a tenth-century Abbasid cookbook.<ref name="OxfordSugarQataif" /> 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.<ref name="Isin2013">{{cite book |last=Işın |first=Priscilla Mary |title=Sherbet and Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2013 |isbn=978-1780761749}}</ref><ref name="SherbetSpiceExcerpt">{{cite web |title=Sherbet and Spice excerpt |url=https://www.academia.edu/2197531/Sherbet_and_Spice_The_Complete_Story_of_Turkish_Sweets_and_Desserts_London_I_B_Tauris_2013 |website=Academia.edu |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> Turkish scholarship likewise treats ''kadayıf'' as an Arabic-derived sweet that later developed multiple forms in Seljuk, Ottoman, and modern Turkish cuisine.{{sfn|Bezirgan|2024|p=15}}<ref name="Guney2022">{{cite journal |last=Güney |first=Sezen |title=Foods spreading from Turkish cuisine to the world |journal=Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Tourism |year=2022 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=217–228 |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/2680846 |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref><ref name="TurkTatliTarihi2025">{{cite journal |title=Geçmişten Günümüze Türk Tatlı Tarihi |journal=Journal of Food and Nutrition Research |year=2025 |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/3892321 |access-date=21 March 2026 |language=tr}}</ref>
== Preparation and usage == thumb|Production of tel kadayıf Modern ''tel kadayıf'' consists of very fine strands resembling vermicelli.{{sfn|Krondl|2011|p=105}} 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.{{sfn|Savlak|Köse|2013|p=128}}{{sfn|Eckhardt|2017|p=22}} These strands may be sold fresh, refrigerated, or frozen as an intermediate product, or used in finished desserts.{{sfn|Eckhardt|2017|p=22}} In Türkiye, ''tel kadayıf'' is covered by standard 10344/T3 as a semi-processed flour-and-water product.{{sfn|Seyyedcheraghi|Kotancilar|Karaoglu|2019|p=4007}}
Finished desserts made from kadayıf strands are typically baked or fried and then soaked in sugar syrup.{{sfn|Başar|Boz|2023|p=}}{{sfn|Bezirgan|2024|p=15}} 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.{{sfn|Bezirgan|2024|p=15}}{{sfn|Krondl|2011|p=105}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== Sources == * {{cite book |last=Eckhardt |first=R. |title=Istanbul and Beyond: Exploring the Diverse Cuisines of Turkey |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-544-44431-7 |chapter=Kadayif |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r2M6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA22 |access-date=2025-07-22}} * {{cite journal |last=Walczak-Mikołajczakowa |first=Mariola |title=Turkish Borrowings in Bulgarian Lexis Related to Cuisine and Cooking |journal=Przegląd Humanistyczny |issue=66/4 |date=2023-04-23 |doi=10.31338/2657-599X.ph.2022-4.7 |pages=93–101 |url=https://wuw.pl/data/include/cms/PH_2022_4.pdf#page=97}} * {{cite book |last=Krondl |first=M. |title=Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert |publisher=Chicago Review Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-56976-954-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dt0RErSFvE8C&pg=PA105 |access-date=2025-01-04}} * {{cite journal |last1=Seyyedcheraghi |first1=K |last2=Kotancilar |first2=H G |last3=Karaoglu |first3=M M |title=Determination of acrylamide and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) values as affected by frying duration and temperature levels during the preparation of tray kadayif dessert |journal=Applied Ecology and Environmental Research |volume=17 |issue=2 |date=2019 |doi=10.15666/aeer/1702_40074017 |doi-access=free |pages=4007–4017 |bibcode=2019ApEER..17.4007S}} * {{citation |last=Bezirgan |first=Muammer |title=Turkish Desserts and the Place of Desserts in Turkish Cuisine |date=2024-06-06 |doi=10.5281/ZENODO.11509656 |isbn=978-2-38236-680-6 |url=https://bookchapter.org/kitaplar/Turkish_desserts_and_the_Place_of_Desserts_in_Turkish_Cuisine.pdf}} * {{cite journal |last1=Başar |first1=Burak |last2=Boz |first2=Hüseyin |title=Effect of different oils and sugar syrups on the properties of tray kadayif (traditional Turkish dessert) |journal=Journal of Ethnic Foods |volume=10 |issue=1 |date=2023-05-04 |article-number=13 |issn=2352-6181 |doi=10.1186/s42779-023-00178-3 |doi-access=free}} * {{cite journal |last1=Savlak |first1=Nazlı Yeyinli |last2=Köse |first2=Ergun |title=Bazı Özel Amaçlı Unların Kalite Özellikleri |journal=Akademik Gıda |date=2013 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=125–130 |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1186580 |trans-title=Quality Characteristics of Some Special Purpose Flours |language=tr}}
Category:Middle Eastern cuisine Category:Doughs