As I write this article I’m snacking on a börek, picked up from my local Turkish food shop in London. Rolled and shaped into a large swirl, its layers of fine pastry are filled with a mixture of spinach and salty white cheese; it is rich, super savoury and irresistible to me every time I pass by the shop.
The origin of these addictive pastries is uncertain, but it seems the Turks of Central Asia conceived of them before they moved west to Anatolia. In Turkey today they are absurdly popular; it’s not possible to walk more than a few streets in Istanbul without finding someone selling them. They’re available all across the country in various shapes, sizes and flavours, and with many regional variations. Eaten at breakfast, lunch or any time throughout the day as a snack, there really isn’t a bad time to eat börek.
Traditionally, börek are made with yufka, which is like a very thin flatbread, more substantial than filo but thinner than a flour tortilla, although modern börek recipes have evolved to use pastries such as filo or puff. It is then most commonly filled with combinations of cheese, herbs (most often parsley), local greens, mashed potato or minced meat (such as beef), and rolled or shaped in various ways. There are also many different methods of cooking börek so the result is a wide range of different pastries, around fifty different types; these are some of my personal favourites.