Abu al Saoud’s sweets shop smells like the Gaza that could have been. Inside the large glass doors, shiny displays and clean tables are enveloped by the warm waft of sugar and dough. It’s quiet except for the chatter of customers and the ‘clink clink’ sound of the server slicing up the shop’s famed sweets and storied attraction: Knafa Arabiya.
Abu al Saoud的甜点店闻起来满是加沙的味道。在店铺大大的玻璃门里面，亮闪闪的器皿和干干净净的桌子都包裹在一股温热的糖果和面团的味道中。整个店很安静，只听得到顾客的交谈声，还有店员给招牌甜品Knafa Arabiya切片时发出的叮当声。
This Gaza Strip version ofknafa, a beloved Middle Eastern sugar-soaked pastry, is rarely found outside of the tiny coastal enclave. The more widely known kind is Knafa Nablusiya (from Nablus in the Palestinian territories), where cheese – common in Palestinian desserts – is layered between crushed noodles or semolina. Knafa Arabiya or Ghazawiya (Arabic or Gazan) is a savoury-sweet twist, made richer with the signature Gaza flavours of nuts, nutmeg and cinnamon replacing the cheese.
这种加沙地带的knafa是一款深受人们喜爱的中东糖渍点心，出了这片小小的沿海地带几乎j就找不到这种糕点。更为人们所熟知的是一种来自巴勒斯坦纳布卢斯的叫做Knafa Nablusiya的点心，它在压碎的面条和粗面粉中间放上一层在巴勒斯坦的甜点中很常见的芝士。Knafa Arabiya和 Knafa Ghazawiya（分别为阿拉伯风味和加沙风味）则是香甜味的，它的配料更为丰富，里面不加芝士，取而代之的是独具加沙风味的坚果、肉豆蔻和肉桂。
Saqallah’s Sweets, as Abu al Saoud’s is also known, has been baking Gaza’s most characteristic dessert since 1896. The dish’s exact origins, however, are hard to pin down. Mahmoud Saqallah, grandson of the store’s patriarch, proudly offered one theory, dating it back to the 7th Century and the time of the Prophet Mohammed, when his companion, Ali ibn Abi Talib, reportedly requested a hearty dessert – and behold, as Saqallah told it, Kunafa Arabiya was born. True or not, the story speaks of the dish’s storied place in Palestinian Gazan identity.
Saqallah的甜点店，和Abu al Saoud的店一样，从1896年起就开始烘焙最具加沙特色的甜点了。不过这些甜点最初源于何处已经无从知晓。该店创始人的孙子Mahmoud Saqallah自豪地告诉我们，有一种说法讲这些甜点最早得追溯到7世纪先知穆罕穆德的时代，据说当时穆罕穆德的追随者Ali ibn Abi Talib希望能够得到一个有许多配料的甜点，然后，用Saqallah的话说就是：瞧，Kunafa Arabiya这样诞生了。不管这个故事真假与否，里面提到Kunafa的发源处是巴勒斯坦的加沙地带。
Today you need a hard-to-procure permit to enter or exit Gaza. But historically, this now isolated area was a place of crossroads and commerce. In ancient times, Gaza was the main port along the Mediterranean and access point for travellers and traders on route to the Levant and greater Syria, Arabian Peninsula or Africa. Today, its cuisine of unique combinations still mirrors this past.
如今人们很难获许进出加沙。但是这片现今与世隔绝的地带在历史上却是交通发达、商业兴盛。加沙曾经是地中海沿岸的重要港口，并且是游客和商人前往Levant 和大叙利亚、阿拉伯半岛或非洲的必经之路，如今加沙当地独特的各地美食大综合依旧能够反映出这段历史。
“[Knafa Arabiya] reflects Gaza itself,” said Laila El-Haddad, author of The Gaza Kitchen. “It’s a more rustic dessert that’s richly spiced.”
”Knafa Arabiya是加沙的写照。“《加沙厨房》的作者Laila El-Haddad这样说道，“这是一种更具乡土气息的甜点，配料丰富。”
She added, “In modern times, as it’s [Gaza] become more closed off, these flavours have become relatively unknown, even to other Palestinians.”
她又说道：“而现今，由于加沙变得越来越封闭，这些口味已经不像以前那样为人所知了，甚至连其他地方的巴勒斯坦人也不知道。”
In fact, today most people physically can’t access the dessert. After decades of rule by the Turks, Brits and Egyptians, Israel then occupied Gaza from 1967 to 2005; two years later Hamas, a designated terror group, violently seized power from its rival, the more moderate Palestinian Authority (PA) based in the West Bank. Israel and Egypt then imposed travel and trade blockades on Gaza. Over the last nine years, Israel and Hamas have fought three devastating wars; many in Gaza have still not recovered from the last one three years ago.
事实上，如今大部分人根本吃不到这种食物。在被土耳其人、英国人、埃及人统治了几十年后，加沙于1967年至2005年间被以色列人占领。两年后，被定性为恐怖组织的哈马斯从其对手——位于约旦河西岸的较为温和的巴勒斯坦政权手中暴力夺取了权力，随即以色列和印度在旅游和贸易方面对加沙进行了封锁。在过去的九年里，以色列和哈马斯总共打了三场毁灭性的战争，最近的一场发生在三年前，至今仍有许多加沙人还未从这场战争中恢复过来。
Today, Israel restricts most border crossings. At the Erez crossing in southern Israel, the only point of entry and exit for people between Gaza, Israel and the Palestinian West Bank, "Food is not permitted to be exported from Gaza for regulatory purposes," according to Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories. Informally, however, half a kilo or a kilo of sweets – or about two big plates of Knafa Arabiya – will get through.
如今，以色列控制了绝大部分的过境点。位于以色列南部的Erez过境点是人们进出加沙、以色列和巴勒斯坦约旦河西岸的唯一出入口，依据以色列政府国土行动协调部门的命令，此处“出于监管的目的，食物不得从加沙运出”。不过在非正式的情况下，半斤或一斤糖果，或者两大盘的Knafa Arabiya在这里畅通无阻。
When I visited Abu al Saoud’s shop in July, times were tough and getting tougher. Gaza was a month deep into a severe electricity crisis that left the strip's two million people with just two to three hours of power a day – down from only eight hours in the months before. The lucky ones, like Abu al Saoud, can keep lights on longer with generators. Even at just five shekels per slice – the same price as in Nablus – the knafe is unaffordable for many in Gaza, which has some of the highest unemployment in the world.
当我七月份前往Abu al Saoud的店参观时，当地的生活变得越发艰难。加沙曾经有一个月深陷严重的电力危机，导致两百多万人每天获得的电力供应由之前的八个小时跌至两三个小时。一些人比如Abu al Saoud则比较幸运，能够通过发电机延长照明时间。即便每片Knafe只要五谢克尔，跟在纳布卢斯的价格一样，在失业率为全球之最的加沙还是有很多人吃不起。
Despite the hardships, Abu al Saoud has had several successful locations around Gaza City. In 1994, a time when now-stalled negotiations over creating a Palestinian state appeared most promising, Saqallah Sweets added Knafa Nablusiya to its mix. The family opened the current location in central Gaza City in 2009, just a few weeks before a war with Israel. By the war’s end, bombs had shattered their windows and cost them tens of thousands of pounds in losses and damages.
尽管困难重重，Abu al Saoud还是在加沙周边拥有几家经营得不错的店。早在1994年，当时围绕建立巴勒斯坦国的谈判显露出好的迹象（该谈判现今搁浅），Saqallah甜点店将Knafa Nablusiya纳入经营范围，该家族于2009年在加沙中心开了现在的这家店，当时距离和以色列交战只有几个星期。在战争结束前，炮弹炸碎了他们的窗户，造成了上万英镑的损失。
Now, with borders blocked and money getting tighter, “It’s hard to create a consistent system,” Saqallah said, explaining that high-quality ingredients – and even just some of the basics – are becoming harder and harder to procure.
现在随着边界封锁和经济形势越来越严峻，“配料很难统一”，Saqallah讲道，并解释说制作中需要用到的高质量的原料，甚至是一些基础原料都越来越难获得。
Though, according to Saqallah, “It’s not just about the materials, but how it’s cooked.”
不过，对于Saqallah来说，“制作Knafa不仅关系到原料，还有制作过程。”
In the kitchen below the bustling shop, Saqallah’s team has mastered the art. Saqallah declined to give his exact Knafa Arabiya recipe, but described how it starts with a base of toasted and ground semolina, whey and milk that’s cooked and refined to achieve the dish’s characteristic coarseness. Next, the crumbly dough is poured over a large oiled pan, followed by a mix of cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg and a layer ofein jamal– the eye of the camel, or walnuts. Then it’s all pressed down by a smaller pan and placed over a large fire stovetop for about 20 minutes. The final touch, of course, is a layer of syrupy sugar poured on top.
在繁忙的店铺下层的厨房里，Saqallah的团队已经掌握了技术。Saqallah不愿意说出Knafa Arabiya的具体配方，但却讲述了制作过程，首先用烤过的粗粒小麦粉、面粉以及经过烧煮并提纯过的牛奶揉成面团，这样能够达到Knafa特有的粗糙口感，接着将松软的面团摊到抹好油的平底锅里，接着加入肉桂、糖、肉豆蔻，再放上一层ein jamal（即骆驼的眼睛）或者核桃，然后再用一个小点的锅压住，放到一个比较大的炉子上烘烤20分钟左右，最后一步，当然就是在其表面涂上一层糖浆。
The dish is best served hot – but if it’s covered for too long, it will go dry and clumpy, the tell-tale sign of lesser-quality knafa, Saqallah warned.
Saqallah提醒到，Knafa最好趁热食用，如果盖住的时间太长，就会变干变脆，这就说明Knafa的品质开始变差了。
The complicated texture is tough to achieve at home, which is in part why the dish has remained largely unknown outside of Gaza, said El-Haddad. Instead, home recipes, like the one in her cookbook, rely on an easier mix of bulgur and semolina to achieve the knafa’s pastry base.
人们在家里很难做出配料这么复杂的食物来，这也是Knafa不为加沙以外的人所熟知的原因之一，EI-Haddad这样说道。取而代之的家庭配方——比方说她烹饪书里写到的一种，则是简单的用碾碎的干小麦和和粗粒小麦粉作为Knafa的基础原料。
Saqallah has been working at the shop for 40 years. Now one of his six children, Saud, 31, is being prepped to inherit it. On any given day and night, the store is packed, especially during holidays or the beginning of the month, when salaries come.
Saqallah在店里工作了四十年。如今他的六个孩子之一、31岁的Saud正准备继承这家店。在某些特定的日子里，店里从早到晚都挤满了人，尤其是节假日或者是每个月月初发工资的时候。
"We always come here for it," said 20-year-old Nur, who a little before 10am was waiting with four university friends for the first knafa of the day to be ready. They had an appointment that morning nearby and decided to treat themselves first; three wanted the more savoury Arabiya and two opted for the cheese version.
“我们一直都是到这里来买Knafa的。”20岁的Nur在早上快到十点的时候就已经和四个大学里的朋友一起等着第一张Knafa出炉了。那天早上他们在附近有个约会，大家决定先吃点东西，其中三个人点的是咸味的Arabiya，另外两人点的是芝士味。
They were a bit taken aback by my intense interest in the dish. “It’s not weird to us at all,” Nur said with a smile.
他们有些惊讶我对Knafa有着这么浓厚的兴趣，“Knafa对我们来说已经习以为常了。”Nur笑着说道。
*原文来自BBC Travel频道。仅做翻译练习之用。*
