Culinary Historians of Washington's Book Report

Each year the Culinary Historians of Washington (Chow) holds a Cooperative Supper with a theme. Interested members bring dishes to fit the theme and then discuss what inspired them to create their dishes. In the past, themes have ranged from specific eras to presidential favorites. This year's theme was "book report" and we were instructed to prepare dishes mentioned in our favorite fiction or non-fiction works.



Me with French- Carribean expert Anne Gaelle Laplanche



Main Course Table

My Konafa

Dessert Table

When I read the invitation, I was in Egypt. The only book quote that I could think of at the time was the following:




“This is a month (Ramadan) that has its duties and its obligations.” Her son Ahmed said, “It has its obligations, yes, but the war is terrible and it takes priority over everything else.” The mother said, “God forbid, I hope we never have to give up our traditions. What about the nuts, the konafa and the qatayif? The father said, “We can make do with some pine nuts, sultanas, and dried apricots.”

From the novel Khan el Khalili by Egyptian Nobel Prize winning author Naguib Mahfouz

I brought Mixed Nut K'nafeh and discussed being inspired by the emotions I felt during the Egyptian revolution..how all of a sudden, those of us who were in Cairo felt the same feelings as the main character in this novel felt during World War II. During the revolution, among the chaos and fear, the food supply (especially produce) was affected. In addition to not knowing what was going to happen next politically, we all of a sudden had to change our diets.  It's ironic that maintaining culinary traditions and eating comfort foods are the best way to maintain normalcy in difficult situations, yet they are often the first things to disappear.

Other people brought interesting edible pieces of Americana...like the "Washington Pie" which was not a pie at all - but a jam filled cake made by settlers who didn't have enough fat (lard, butter, etc) to make real pies. Another member brought a risotto recipe from a 14-th century Italian cook - steeped with cinnamon and saffron, it was a testament to Venice's important role in the Medieval spice trades.  My favorite part of the event, however, was learning that at some prominent dinners in history,  each guest at the table would be expected to recite poetry (from memory) which mentioned the main ingredient in each course. I replied, "maybe we  can brush up on our poetry and try that next year!"



  

View of Washington, DC from Alexandria, Virginia 






Mixed Nut K’nafeh (Konafa)

Makes 15 Servings

K’nafeh is made from pastry strands which are sold as “Shredded Phyllo Dough” in English. The name, however, is a bit of a misnomer because it implies that Phyllo sheets are prepared and then shredded. Actually, the strands are made by brushing batter onto a hot griddle in a circle pattern. The stands are then removed from the griddle and formed into bunches. This is often done on the street in Egypt, and is especially popular at Ramadan.

K’nafeh can be filled with nuts, sweet cream, or sweet cheese and stored in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days, but it is best eaten the day it is prepared. Keep in mind that this dessert needs to be weighed down in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Ingredients:

For the syrup:

1 ½ cups sugar

2 large strips of orange peel

Juice of 1 small orange

For the filling:

½ cup walnuts, chopped

½ cup blanched almonds, chopped

½ cup shelled pistachios, chopped

½ cup roasted, unsalted peanuts, chopped

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon orange blossom water

For the K’nafeh:

1 (1 pound) package kataifi*, thawed

4 sticks unsalted butter, melted

Preparation:

Make the syrup by putting sugar, 1 cup water, orange peel, and orange juice into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, reduce heat to low, and let simmer approximately 10 to 15 minutes, until syrup thickens. Remove from heat and cool. Remove orange peel from syrup.

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Make the filling by combining walnuts, almonds, pistachios, peanuts, sugar, and orange blossom water in a food processor. Pulse on and off until mixture is coarsely ground.

To assemble the K’nafeh, place melted butter in a large, deep bowl. Holding the kataifi strands over the butter, pull them apart, and toss them with the butter. Use your fingers to combine and continue breaking the strands up until they are 1 to 2-inches each.

Press half of strands into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan. Spread the filling evenly over the top. Press the remaining kataifi strands over the filling to cover.

Cover the surface of the K’nafeh with tin foil. Place 2 (5 pound) weights on top (bags of sugar or cans work fine). Refrigerate 1 hour or up to overnight. Take weights off and uncover k’nafeh.

With a sharp, long serrated knife, carefully make 30 squares inside the pan (only cut three-quarters of the way down). Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, rotating pan every 20 minutes to ensure even baking. K’nafeh is finished when it is golden in color. Carefully pour the syrup over the k’nafeh after removing from the oven.

Let cool completely and use a spatula to serve.