- Filo (yufka) pastry
- Fillings: white cheese, spinach, minced meat, potato
- Baked, fried or griddled, served warm
Börek
Laz böreği, the Black Sea's sweet custard börek. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Börek is the whole family of filo pastries: layered, rolled or folded around cheese, spinach, minced meat or potato. Su böreği (water börek) is the layered classic, boiled like lasagne before baking; sigara böreği are the fried cheese rolls.
It is breakfast food and bakery food, eaten warm from neighbourhood börekçis. The Ottoman palace kitchens recorded dozens of varieties; the street keeps the tradition alive.
Key ingredients
Where to try it
- Neighbourhood börekçis for breakfast, everywhere.
- Su böreği in Istanbul's old bakeries.
- Eaten with çay, standing or at the counter.