Börek. I probably shouldn’t love you as much as I do!
It packs a hefty cholesterol punch, a substantial ingredient being butter (or at times I suspect margarine) as well as oil. Börek is based on yufka, the Turkish cousin of Phyllo pastry, or Filo by which name it made its way into western shops. There is nothing particularly Turkish about this dish. It is found in some variation all over the Balkans. The Albanian type is renowned around Istanbul - typically very piquant, filled with meats and eggplants. To find out more is a project on my To Do list. There are quite some variations in the fillings you can get: kıymalı, that is ground meat mixed with onions spreading a non-too-subtle smell. Various cheeses, spinach, potatoes, or a combination of all of them. One type known as water (su) börek is a little bit different in its preparation as the yufka sheets get quickly parboiled in hot water first, then assembled. The consistency therefore is not unlike that of Italian Lasagna pasta. Mostly they get baked in large trays, then cut with a wooden ruler, others are portion sized, shaped round or oblong, and taking their names from those shapes: for example Sigar or Gül (rose). Oh, the magic moment when you walk into a Börek shop and they pull a tray fresh out of the wood-fired oven, using a long-handled baker’s peel, the kürek. Whichever came out last will well influence my order. This is the sort of food you can eat at all hours. Indeed, it is available just about around the clock, and a Börekçi is never too far away. Of course when you live here, you’ll have your trusted places to frequent. In my case I have my local, where the food is ok, but nothing worth writing home about. But he is a few houses down my street and so it’s a bit like an extended living room. You go there, purchase a portion of the pastry of your choice, some tea and then indulge in small talk. And then there is another place near Istiklal Street where it’s the opposite. There is no social aspect, the purpose for visit an unalloyed culinary pursuit, or to fill a growling stomach. It is a budget food, and you will often enough see elderly ordering “3 Lira worth”, or similar. My particular favorite is the plain type, or translated to Turkish Sade Börek but more often referred to as Kürt Böreği. Several sheets of pastry form a crunchy dish. The thick dusting of powder sugar will transform this into a satisfying small meal which I consider breakfast, or lunch, or an in-between mid afternoon snack, or at a push even dinner. My usual MO is to order a half portion of plain and a half portion of white cheese filled börek. Together with 2 glasses of large tea it will come to around 6-8 TL. When I was back in Australia recently I really missed the simplicity and versatility of börek (and the economical price too). I know some places sell it, but it’s more of a novelty than for example country cousin Pide (Turkish pizza) or some listless derivations thereof. And I couldn’t help thinking how it could take on the Aussie pie in its category of readily available, low cost snacks.
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AuthorInnate curiosity, learned (discovered) deep love and appreciation for Turkey, a bit of time at my hands, and always hungry: voila, a food blogger! Archives
September 2019
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