Antakya künefesi

Antakya künefesi is the künefe of Hatay, Turkey's southernmost province, where the dish is treated not as a dessert among others but as the city's signature: two layers of fine shredded kadayıf pastry pressed around a filling of unsalted fresh cheese, cooked in a shallow copper tray over coals until the underside is deep gold, flipped, soaked in syrup and served hot so that the cheese pulls in strings. Hatay's version carries a protected geographical indication and is distinguished from the künefe of Gaziantep, Mersin or Lebanon's knafeh by its cheese, the local künefe peyniri, a stretchy, mild, barely salted curd made in the province for this purpose, and by its restraint: no pistachio paste in the middle, no cream, a thin layer of crushed pistachio on top at most. In Antakya it is eaten in the evening at specialist shops in the old town, and it is the standard close to a meal of kebab and the city's cold mezes.