Where to get qatayef for Ramadan in Toronto

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This article was published 06/04/2022 (1625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“For me, qatayef is about the streets of Nablus,” said Ali Akel, chef at Kunafa’s, a Palestinian sweets shop with three locations in the GTA.

During Ramadan all attention at Akel’s shop is on qatayef. Normally the focus is knafeh, a sweet made with cheese and spun pastry, soaked in a sugar syrup.

Qatayef, also spelled katayef, atayef and qatayif, was once a novelty only available at a handful of shops in the GTA during Ramadan, but it’s now becoming more common. It’s a crepe-style pancake pastry shaped like moons and stuffed with crushed aromatics.

My first qatayef in Toronto was around five years ago, but the pastry itself is ancient. I found a recipe dating back to the tenth century in the Baghdadi cookbook “Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchen.”

Akel recalled a memory where, as a child, he would instantly know when it was Ramadan, by the “sights and smells” of qatayef vendors that would set up roadside back home.

“We were too young to fast. My mom would send me to pick up qatayef for iftar (which is) when we break the fast,” Akel said. “I would line up for two hours waiting for it. I loved every second of it.”

Like most foods, there are various interpretations of qatayef from region to region.

At Crown Pastries, which is typically known for its superfluous spread of various types of baklava, the recipe for qatayef was passed down from the owners’ grandfather who ran a sweets store in Aleppo, Syria.

Brothers Rasoul and Ismail Salha use flour, water and mastic resin for the batter. Rasoul said this gives him the elasticity he wants in the pancake.

His favourite is the traditional qatayef, thick half-moon-shaped pancakes that are stuffed with an almond mixture. They’re fried for a minute and then dunked into a thick syrup. Once it is drained, Rasoul finishes it with a sprinkling of coconut or crushed pistachios.

The other popular version is the qatayef asaferi, where he curls the pancake and pipes in ricotta cream and crowns it with crushed chartreuse green Gaziantep pistachios.

Choosing one comes down to whether you prefer a pancake with a creamy interior or if you want the satisfying crunch of almonds under a bed of soft cake.

Akel’s versions at Kunafa’s are even more luxurious.

He uses semolina in his batter, which creates tiny air bubbles in his pancake, allowing it to soak in more of the syrup when its dunked.

“My favourite is definitely the walnut mixture; we use some coconut and cinnamon which gives it this wonderful aroma,” he said.

Suresh Doss is a Toronto-based food writer and food tour guide. He is a freelance contributor to the Star. Reach him via email: suresh.doss@gmail.com