What to do with kaitifi

[PaulaDR]

Hey all,

I was so excited to find kaitifi (aka shredded phyllo) at my local gourmet store. I bought 3 packets but alas now I have no idea what to do with it. All I have found researchwise has been hawaiian recipes filled with scallops and deserts which I am not really into.

Any thoughts?

[polly]

You can wrap shelled prawns (head still on) with kataifi and bake them. Good with preserved lemon.

You could probably wrap any morsels of meat that you liked..bit of a spice paste on them, some yoghurt sauce to eat them with..yum.

Or, wrap figs with prosciutto and then with kataifi, bake and serve hot from the oven with a melting blob of marscapone on top (greg malouf ).

[Anna N]

Here's a link to a Christine Cushing shrimp recipe:

Shrimp

(The link is slow but it does work.)

Anna N

[Suzanne F]

Back in January, at Bayard's (in the Wall Street area, NYC), we had foie wrapped in pancetta wrapped in kataifa. The crust was golden and the foie still solid. Not quite an everyday use, but sublime.

[inventolux]

You can smoke it then bake it inside bread to create kaitifi smoked bread.

Edited June 21, 2003 by inventolux (log)

[Chef/Writer Spencer]

Dude. What is that? You cook like a Klingon man. That's fucked up.

[Xanthippe]

Dude.  What is that?  You cook like a Klingon man.  That's fucked up.

Klingon Kataifi-Inside-Bread Bread . . .

[PaulaDR]

Dyslexics R' US. I think perhaps my trouble with finding recipes with shredded phyllo is that i kept on thinking it was called Kaitifi when instead I think its Kataifi (or is it the other way around)... no wonder.

[KatieLoeb]

There's an excellent book called Patisserie of the Eastern Mediterranean, by Arto Haroutunian that has a whole chapter on kataifi desserts of Greek, Lebanese and Armenian origin. I'm sure you could come up with some variations on your own, but anything stuffed with dried fruit and nuts and doused in honey would probably work! And be delicious!

[inventolux]

Dude.  What is that?  You cook like a Klingon man.  That's fucked up.

How about taking a loaf of smoked bread and slicing it thinly, drying out in an oven overnight, then pulverizing it into a "bread flour", then using that "bread flour" to make the next "smoked loaf". Klingons love that stuff. Ive seen em eat it man, they're all over it.

Now if these klingons are true conniseurs, one may consider the alternative:

Ok, take some kaitifi and deep fry it until its a beautiful CGB. Then puree it with bread starter. Then take the double smoked Kaitifi loaf and cut it into cubes.

Brown the cubes in butter, soak the browned cubes in the kaitifi/starter puree, then bake at 350F until smoked kaitifi cubes are crispy on the outside, and smoky/gooey on the inside.

Miniature Double Smoked Kaitifi Loafs.

Edited June 22, 2003 by inventolux (log)

[Mark Sommelier]

Egg wash large scallops. Toss them in kataifi cut about 4 inches. Drop them in a deep fryer just long enough for the kataifi to stand up and firm. Bake in slow oven 6-8 minutes.

Voila! Porcupine Scallops.

[inventolux]

Egg wash large scallops. Toss them in kataifi cut about 4 inches. Drop them in a deep fryer just long enough for the kataifi to stand up and firm. Bake in slow oven 6-8 minutes.

Voila! Porcupine Scallops.

How slow is slow?

[PaulaJK]

Jacques Torres, in his book Dessert Circus, sprays it with

butter and bakes it in round shapes. He then uses these disks

as layers in a napoleon [custard filling, fruits on plate]. I

haven't tried it but the accompnaying photo looks delicious.

[pastramionrye]

not a huge fan of kaitaifi...though when fried can look cool on a plate...

i have just found that any use of kaitifi must be accompanied with an excellent sauce.

try the shriimp or scallop or thin fish fillet wrapped in kaitifi...and pan fry or deep fry....

or how about soft shell crabs...

[Jinmyo]

I've mixed it with shaved and blanched white onion, deep-fried, sprinkled with gomasio and fleur de sel to make "onion rings".

It can be fun to wrap round fish. But it gets a bit old very fast.

[Jinmyo]

Oh. I forgot.

It can be nice with bits of finely miced bacon and placed atop a simple salad of watercress with a Dijon vinaigrette. Nice with rack of lamb.

[FoodMan]

Shredded Pyllo is used in many middle eastern desserts and they are all fantastic. One of the best is "Kenafe". Which is basically a thick layer of cream filling sandwiched between two layers of shredded phylo, baked and drizzled with rose water syrup. Crunchy/buttery on the outside and creamy on the inside..perfect.

If you have Claudia Roden's book about Middle Eastern food, you will find several recipe that use it.

FM

Edited June 23, 2003 by FoodMan (log)

[PaulaDR]

I do have Claudia Rosen's book (and Jacques Torress's) and I love them... but I was looking for non dessert uses ... i tried to wrap raw lemongrass seasoned shrimp and baked it, and that worked fairly well... it just wasnt as "pretty" as I expected (I recently began a food magazine in the Caribbean and need good and pretty new concepts!!!!)

[Aquitaine]

I've never worked with kataifi. Do you need to slather it with melted butter just like you do phyllo? (Even for the savory recipes mentioned -- e.g., Jinmyo's "It can be nice with bits of finely miced bacon and placed atop a simple salad of watercress with a Dijon vinaigrette" ???? Does it dry out even faster than phyllo?

What about a variation on birds nest pastries -- just make them savory? You know, a cute little round pile with a center of something deliciously different texturally... (I'm no chef; savory custard? Sabayon-napped seafood or even vegetable mousse...)

I second KatieLoeb's recommendation of the Arto Haroutunian book for pastries, should you change your mind....

(Also, has anyone tried using olive oil instead of butter on phyllo? Perhaps I should start a thread..)