It began, as all good things do, with a craving. Not for enlightenment or adventure—but for dessert. A very specific dessert. Kunafeh. That golden, syrup-soaked, cheese-stuffed marvel that has seduced palates from Nablus to Baghdad and now, quite conveniently, resides in Mansour Mall.

So off we went, drawn by the gravitational pull of sugar and nostalgia, into the polished corridors of Mansour Mall. Our destination: MADO Cafe. A name that sounds like a character from a Turkish soap opera but is, in fact, a global ambassador of Turkish ice cream and pastries. MADO, for the uninitiated, is a portmanteau of Maraş (the city of origin) and Dondurma (Turkish for ice cream). It’s not just a brand—it’s a frozen empire with over 250 outposts, each one promising a spoonful of Ottoman decadence.

Kunafeh: The Dessert That Refuses to Be Forgotten

Kunafeh, or Kanafeh if you prefer your vowels Levantine, is not just a dessert. It’s a cultural artifact. A shredded phyllo-like pastry stuffed with neutral, stringy cheese (the kind that stretches like a good metaphor), baked to a crisp, then drowned in syrup and crowned with crushed pistachios. It’s the kind of dish that makes you question your loyalty to all other desserts.

Its origins? As tangled as its pastry strands. First mentioned in the 10th century, Kunafeh is believed to hail from Nablus, a city that takes its cheese and its records seriously. In 2009, Nablus attempted to set a Guinness World Record with a Kunafeh the size of a small football field. That’s not dessert—that’s diplomacy.

The name itself comes from the Arabic verb ka-na-fa, meaning mercy. Which makes sense. Kunafeh is mercy in edible form. Legend has it that Caliph Muawiya requested a dish to help him endure the rigors of Ramadan fasting. Kunafeh was the answer. A dish so rich, it could fortify emperors and humble poets alike.

Gil Marks, in his book “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food,” notes the early adoption of this pastry by the Jewish community. The dessert evolved over centuries, with the 13th century marking a significant shift when Middle Eastern cooks began baking thinly sliced qata’if and tossing the shreds with honey. This preparation method eventually transformed into the Kunafeh we enjoy today.

Our Experience at MADO Cafe

Kunafeh is not just a dessert; it’s an experience, and MADO Cafe excels at delivering this experience. As we sat down, the aroma of freshly baked pastries filled the air, setting the stage for what was to come. Our Kunafeh was served hot, with a delightful piece of vanilla ice cream on the side, topped with more crushed pistachios. The combination of the warm, crispy pastry, the gooey sweet cheese, and the cold, creamy ice cream was simply divine.

The first bite transported us to the streets of Nablus, with the perfect balance of textures and flavours playing a symphony in our mouths. Despite being a high-calorie treat, Kunafeh’s irresistible taste makes it worth every indulgent bite.

The Queen of Arabic Sweets

If desserts were royalty, Kunafeh would wear the crown, wield the sceptre, and rewrite the constitution. It’s sticky, unapologetically rich, and utterly irresistible. Each bite is a footnote in a centuries-old culinary manuscript. It’s the kind of dish that makes you pause—not just to chew, but to reflect.

Our evening at MADO wasn’t just about satisfying a sweet tooth. It was about indulging in history, about tasting the echoes of empires and the whispers of tradition. Kunafeh reminded us that food is memory, that sweetness can be profound, and that sometimes, the best journeys begin with dessert.