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By Root 931 0

leaves, with a nut filling in between, yet be no thicker than two fingers. Another sweet idea is to take little morsels of fried börek and saturate them in syrup or honey; the result is crisp sweetmeats oozing with sweetness. But these call for a well-equipped kitchen, more time, and helping hands to tend to the frying while others are being served.

As the börek evolved, increasingly intricate dishes were devised in palaces and wealthier households, and above all by Ottoman sufi dervishes, for whom cuisine played a symbolic role on the path to perfection. By the fifteenth century the börek was already a classic dish. We know that Mehmet II, one Saturday in 1474, was served a börek that had been baked in the imperial bread ovens and was therefore called furun böreği, or “oven börek,” which suggests that other techniques were also practiced.

By the seventeenth century, according to the chronicler Evliya Çelebi, there were a staggering four thousand specialist börek shops in Istanbul. These were strictly not to be confused with bread and biscuit shops. Even the mills producing the quality white wheat flour for the börek shops were different from those supplying the bakers.

Börek shops nowadays are less specialized. Tray böreks are sold in baklava shops by the portion or the kilo; others made from flaky pastry are sold individually in patisseries, along with croissants and mille-feuilles. A 1780 decree governing Istanbul’s börek sellers stipulates that böreks should contain no less than 250 dirhem (802 grams) of mutton which must be “unadulterated with other meats.” (Offenders would be severely fined.) Some things have changed little. Judging by the quantity of filling, böreks must have been baked in large trays and sold cut into rectangles, as they are to this day, for a börek with a savory filling, then as now, makes the perfect quick meal.

I still miss my grandmother’s böreks, the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen, and the gasps of delight as a mound of hot, golden pastry puffs appeared at the table. And above all I miss the conviviality of those carefree börek parties.

A Note on Yufka

A variety of buttered paper-thin pastry—known by its Hellenic name, filo or phyllo—is well established in Western cuisines. Filo is manufactured around the globe, and böreks made from it are very popular outside Turkey, especially on London restaurant menus.

The first two böreks described here are made with ready-made yufka dough, which is less brittle than filo and lighter when fried or baked. If you cannot find ready-made yufka, use filo pastry, or better still make your own with flour, water, and a pinch of salt.

Sigara Böreği

(Cigarette Börek)

1 leaf of yufka dough

Filling:

1 egg

100 grams white or feta cheese (crumbled)

1 cup fresh parsley (finely chopped)

oil for frying

This, the easiest and most rewarding börek, keeps in the fridge or freezer but can also be prepared in no time and served as a snack, starter, or main course. Classic fillings are the cheese one described here, or minced meat (as in Muska Böreği). But depending on how imaginative you wish to be, countless variations can be tried, using different ingredients.

Spread the circular yufka on a flat surface. Halve and quarter it with a knife, and place the quarters on top of each other. Halve and quarter these, to obtain 16 identical wedges from one leaf (depending on your needs, you can increase the quantity). Pile the wedges on top of each other.

To make the filling: break the egg into a bowl. Reserve a little egg white for later to seal the böreks. Beat the rest and mix in the cheese and parsley.

Spoon a little filling onto the broad end of each wedge, fold the sides over the filling, and roll up the börek on a board like a cigar, using a touch of egg white on the pointed end to seal it.

Heat plenty of oil in a deep pan and deep-fry the böreks. They are best served hot, when they are at the peak of their crunchiness, with a creamy heart.

Muska Böreği

(Amulet Triangle Börek)

2 leaves of yufka dough

Filling:

stick of butter