Borek

What Is Borek?

Borek as a Turkish food can be considered as a savory pie, but thanks to the thin phyllo sheets, it is much lighter.

Börek has several types and shapes. You can make it in layers like a lasagne as in this recipe, or stuff and roll each filo sheet and combine them in the pan to make a large spiral or smaller spirals known as rose borek (gül böregi). You can also cut each sheet in large strips, stuff and roll them into a cigar or cigarette shape to make Turkish sigara böreği.

No matter how you shape a borek, the method is basically the same: Phyllo sheets are stuffed with a filling mixture of your choice and then either fried or baked in the oven. It is even possible to cook it in a pan with a little melted butter, just like we do in our gozleme recipe.

Borek can be found in every pastry shop in Turkey, but we love the homemade version best. The bakeries are often popular with their water borek (boiled filo borek), known as su böreği. It is not as easy as this pre-made yufka borek. The phyllo dough is made from scratch and each of them is cooked in hot water after it is rolled out. So people often prefer buying su boregi from stores.