Burek (2024)

FAQs

What is burek made of? ›

Burek in particular is a Serbian delicacy made with a spiced ground meat and potato filling that is wrapped in phyllo dough and shaped into a spiral. There are variations of this recipe found in eastern Europe, Turkey, Greece, and North Africa.

Turkish borek and Greek spanakopita come from the same family of pastry. However, the two often differ in preparation and texture, with Greek spanakopita often having a flakier, puffier crust. Is it burek or borek? Both spellings of this pastry are technically correct, depending on the country.

Serving: burek usually tastes best after it rests for 20 minutes when you take it out of the oven. However, how you want to serve burek is completely up to you! You can eat it hot, or cold, by itself, or alongside a salad or soup.

In its simplest form, burek is a savory meat pie, per Taste Atlas. It is typically a flaky filo pastry or slab of yufka, filled with a combination of cheese, meat, and/or vegetables.

The recipe for "round" burek was developed in the Serbian town of Niš. In 1498, it was introduced by a famous Turkish baker, Mehmed Oğlu, from Istanbul. Eventually burek spread from the southeast (southern Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia) to the rest of Yugoslavia.

There's nothing sweeter than grabbing a bite of warm, crunchy burek, and then washing it down with cold yogurt. This combination goes together like peanut butter and jelly, so if you're ever ordering burek, don't be surprised if you're offered yogurt by default.

Borek also known as Burek can be described as a meal that should be consumed in moderation because it is a hefty source of calories from fats as well as carbs.

Börek or burek is a kind of pastries or pies found in the Balkans, Middle East and Central Asia. The pastry is made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach, or potatoes.

Borek dough is just about twice as thick with a #9 thickness. Next, where baklava uses butter between the layers, borek uses a combination of eggs and milk. Brushing an egg & milk mixture on each sheet of borek dough will soften the dough and create a more substantial foundation for the savory fillings.

In Bosnia, many argue that “pita” is the name for a round pie cut into wedges, while “burek” is a rolled meat pastry (that is also often cut into wedges). In other countries you can find “cheese pita” and “cheese burek” sitting side by side in a bakery, looking exactly the same.

Is borek healthy? ›

Conclusion. You are able to enjoy Borek during times when you're in need of a break from your diet or when you want to satisfy an urge. But make sure you don't serve it as food that takes up the bulk of your meals because you'll get plenty of calories from fat, which could result in a variety of issues in the future.

Like many other dishes of traditional Bosnian cuisine, burek recipe has its origins in Turkish cuisine. In fact, there is a borek dish in Turkey, and you can find more about it in this blog post. Thus, with the Turkish conquests, Burek came to Bosnia, but here it gained a local twist and a different meaning.