Chaniotiko Boureki: From Crete with Love
A Cretan twist on the börek
We’re taking a detour to Crete this time round to have a look at another iteration of the börek, which featured in an earlier post that delved into Turkey’s yufka (filo pastry) traditions.
Before going on holiday I had some filo pastry, courgettes, carrots and potatoes to be used up and a quick google search with those ingredients turned up Chaniotiko Boureki, a wonderful, slow-cooked pie from Chania in Crete.
Crete, the largest of the Greek islands, was under Ottoman rule for over 200 years from the mid-17th century, and while the island’s Turkish population has long since left, their legacy is still found in many dishes eaten on the island today.
The boureki is a prime example, with its name harking back to this era. The Ottoman’s made Chania, where the pasha, or governor, lived, their capital and the city’s old town still has mosques, domed bathhouses and fountains from those days.
Chaniotiko Boureki is made from potato and courgette (zucchini), and whatever’s in season - carrot, pumpkin or tomatoes to name a few. The sliced veg is layered on a sheet of yufka lining a pie dish and then Crete’s myzithra cheese, a creamy, white cheese similar to ricotta, is crumbled on top of the veggies, along with chopped mint.
If myzithra is unavailable in your area, you can use feta (or any ricotta-type cheese). The closest I could find here in Almaty, Kazakhstan was a Circassian cheese called adygeisky, a crumbly white cheese with a slightly sour taste, that, like halloumi, holds up well under heat.
If you want to make your boureki vegan, then this recipe from foodaciously substitutes firm tofu marinated in lemon juice for the white cheese.
Ingredients (for four servings)
one large sheet of yufka (filo pastry)
25 ml olive oil
150 g carrot
150 g courgette (zucchini)
150 g potato
100 g crumbly white cheese (feta, ricotta or something similar)
ten fresh mint leaves
a pinch of ground cinnamon
one teaspoon nigella seeds
Method
Thinly slice the carrot, courgette and potato into rounds. Put the yufka in a greased baking dish. Brush with olive oil and alternate the sliced vegetables.
Crumble half the cheese over the slices and half the chopped mint leaves. Drizzle with a glug of olive oil then repeat the layering.
Close the boureki with the overlapping pastry, brush with olive oil and sprinkle nigella seeds over the top.
Cover with tin foil and bake slowly at 150 c for 1.5 hours. Serve straight away or allow it to cool and serve later.
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