Borek is a family of baked filled pastries. It is made of a thin cracking dough such as phyllo or vufka of Anatolian origins. It is also found in the cuisines of the Levant, Balkans, and other countries in Western Asia and Eastern Europe. A borek can be prepared in a large pan cut into portions after baking or as individual pastries. The top of the borek is mainly sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Borek in Turkey
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Water borek and u boreği 'is one of the most famous ones. Sheets of dough are boiled in large pans. A mixture of parsley, feta cheese, and oil is dispersed between the layers. The whole menu is glanced with butter and laid in a masonry oven to cook. It is thought as a drier, less saucy version of the Italian lasagna. Cigarette borek is a cylindrical type often filled with parsley, feta cheese, potato, and sometimes with minced meat or sausage. A variety of herbs, vegetables, and spices are used in boreks, such as spinach, leek, nettle, and courgette. The name kalem boreği was adopted by Turkish pastry organizations in September 2011, in order to avoid alluding to smoking. Saray böreği is layered borek on which fresh butter is rolled between each of the dough sheets. Nemse böreği or Talaş boreği is a small square borek mainly filled with lamb cubes and green peas, making it puffy and crispy. Sarıyer boreği is a compact and a little fattier version of the "Kol boreği. It was named after Sarıyer, a district of Istanbul. Gül boreği 'rose borek', also known as Yuvarlak böreği are rolled into small spirals and have a spicier filling than other börek.
Eastern Arabian borek
Arab borek is mainly stuffed with diced lamb or minced or beef, or a mixture of the two. Various spices and herbs are used to flavor the meat, including fresh parsley, nutmeg, turmeric, and concentrated pomegranate juice, which gives the mixture a unique tangy and sweet taste. Caramelized or fried onions are often added to the meat, as well as the traditional Arab staple of fried almonds and sultanas. Traditional Arab cheeses, including Jibin Arab and Jibin Baladi are mainly used instead of, or together with the meat. The mixture is wrapped in a sheet of dough Moreover fried or deep-fried until crisp and resembles a large egg roll, while most boreks are made with phyllo. Some traditional cooks and few in the tribal areas prefer hand-kneaded dough.
