GOURMET TRAVELLER 23When unprecedented demand for their
knafeh overwhelmed the family business,
two brothers decided to take the show on
the road, and life took a sweet turn.
WHOYou’ll hear them before you see
them: brothers Ameer and Joey El-Issa
bake (and dance) to a booming playlist
of Middle Eastern beats, the blast radius
emanating from a shipping container
turned pop-up bakery, the mobile home
for their Knafeh: Jerusalem Street Food
business. The signature pastry that has
powered Knafeh since its 2014 start in
Sydney still holds its own against the noise.
WHYWhen the pair’s mother, Nabila,
debuted a “lighter, creamier version” of
the knafeh at their family business,
Shisha Bar & Grill, in Sydney’s Croydon
Park, it was a runaway hit with customers
- so much so that it nearly crippled the
restaurant. So Ameer, a former architect,
drew on his creative expertise to turn a
shipping container into the Knafeh food
truck to better handle demand.WHATAmeer likens knafeh to crème
brûlée. The family version is made with
a mix of sweet cheese and semolina and
cooked twice for an oozy, cheesy centre
and a brûlée-like finish on top. It’s finished
with pistachio nuts and sugar syrup.WHEREKnafeh’s mobile status means
it turns up everywhere – from suburban
parks to old biscuit factories. The
original pop-up has led to appearances
in Melbourne and New York and the
pastry will make occasional cameos at
The Mechanic & Sons, the family’s
newest eatery and a tribute to Ameer’s
father, who was a mechanic for Dale Ford
in Chullora. The first location opened
last month in Penrith, in Sydney’s west.
knafeh.com.auKnafeh
Pastry as performance. Plus some serious beards.
THE PRODUCERSKnafeh’s
knafeh.In a hurry in Dubai? Emirates passengers can, for a fee, use a new “home check-in”
service to check luggage and pick up boarding passes at any location in the city.
And for new arrivals, the airline offers a service that retrieves and clears luggage
at customs, and delivers gear anywhere in Dubai.emirates.com/au
Guy Grossi (Grossi
Florentino) has aRoman
Holidaymoment with
his menu for Gourmet
Institute’s Melbourne
event on 11 July. Expect
braised oxtail with cime
di rapa and toasted
wheat tonnarelli with
pig’s cheek and pecorino.
harveynorman.com.au/
gourmet-institute“I never expectedDark Emuto become a
dance,itwasarealsurprise,”saysBruce
Pascoe. His award-winning book,
which rejects the notion that Indigenous
Australians were hunter-gatherers, and
argues that they were instead practising
sophisticated agriculture, has been
transformed by Bangarra Dance Theatre
into a new work. Do you like your dance
withasideofdinner?Theshowwillbe
matched with a special menu at
Bennelong during the Sydney Opera
House season (14 June to 14 July), before
it tours Canberra, Perth, Brisbane and
Melbourne.bangarra.com.au