Cookbook:Börek (Turkish Filled Pastries)

| Cuisine of Turkey

Börek is a general term in Turkish cuisine that applies to a family of pastries with about fifty different members. They have in common the fact that they are all pastry layers of some type enclosing a filling. There are two basic methods; one consists of rolling out very thin sheets of dough, called yufka in Turkish and phyllo in Greek. The other main type of börek, called nemse börek in Turkish, uses a dough very similar to pâte feuilletée, in which the dough is layered with butter, folded, and rolled out several times.

The following recipe describes the procedure required to prepare triangle-shaped börek from commercially produced phyllo. Links to recipes for fillings are listed at the end of the recipe.

Fillings

 * Peynirli börek (white cheese filling)
 * Kıymalı börek (minced meat filling)
 * Tavuklu börek (chicken filling)
 * Ispanaklı börek (spinach filling)

Assembly

 * 2 cups prepared filling (see above)
 * 1 box yufka/phyllo pastry sheets
 * Melted butter or high-quality vegetable oil

Procedure

 * 1) Remove the phyllo sheets from the container. Unfold carefully so as not to break them. Lay them flat and cover with a clean, damp tea towel to prevent them from drying out—this is important.
 * 2) Working quickly, cut the phyllo into lengthwise thirds (step 1 in the diagram). Lay one of these out and cover the other two with the damp tea towel.
 * 3) Brush the strip of phyllo with the melted butter. Place a heaped teaspoonful of filling on one end of the strip (step 2 in the diagram).
 * 4) Fold the right lower corner upward over the filling to form a triangle (step 3 in the diagram).
 * 5) Now fold the right upper corner over to the left (step 4 in the diagram).
 * 6) Continue folding in this manner until you reach the end of the strip.
 * 7) Trim of any excess dough and seal the edges by rubbing a damp finger over the dough and pressing the edge of the triangle where the strip ends.
 * 8) Fry in oil at 340°F until golden brown or bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.