On the Börek Trail in Turkey
In praise of Turkey's stuffed yufka (filo pastry) treats
23 May 2024
If you’ve ever been to Turkey, or eaten in a Turkish cafe, then you’ll probably be familiar with the börek, a tasty treat consisting of wafer-thin sheets of yufka (filo pastry) brushed with lashings of olive oil, stuffed with cheese or vegetables and sprinkled with black seeds.
Börek is found in all corners of Turkey and comes in a variety of shapes - sigara, like a cigar, gül, like a rose, triangle-shaped or as a layered pie, tepsi böreği, among others.
As for the fillings, alongside the more familiar white cheese (beyaz peynirli), spinach (ıspanaklı) or potato (patatesli), it’s worth looking out for the lesser-spotted leek filled version, known as pırasalı börek in Turkish, and the elusive kabaklı, prepared with courgettes. (Veggie warning - there are meat-stuffed ones too).
Here’s a recipe for a gül böreği filled with spring greens. We had some radish leaves that we combined with spinach and parsley to make a tasty mix of greens. This was then combined with toasted walnuts, olives, capers, rosemary, sumac and cumin seeds.
Ingredients for the filling - makes 2
100 g radish leaves
100 g spinach
25 g parsley
25 g walnuts
25 g olives
25 g capers
50 ml olive oil
One teaspoon of dried rosemary, cumin seeds, sumac, nigella seeds
Four big sheets of filo pastry (approx 30cm x 50 cm)
Ingredients for yufka (Filo Pastry) - makes 4 sheets
300 g all-purpose flour
100 ml olive oil
20 ml vinegar (apple or white wine)
150 ml warm water
Method
To make the filo pastry, combine the sieved flour with the olive oil and vinegar. Slowly add the water a bit at a time and mix it all together with a wooden spoon until the dough forms into a smooth ball. Knead for 10 minutes on a lightly-floured surface to make the dough more stretchy. Separate into four tennis-ball sized pieces. Lightly coat with olive oil, cover with clingfilm and leave for an hour at room temperature.
Heat 25 ml of olive oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and fry until starting to pop. Reduce the heat to low and add the chopped greens (radish leaves, spinach and parsley), rosemary and sumac. Stir fry until the leaves are wilting. Stir in the toasted, chopped walnuts, capers and minced black olives.
Roll out the filo sheets as thinly as you can using a rolling pin or the palm of your hand. They should be around 30 cm by 50 cm and become clear in places. Brush one sheet with olive oil and then place another on top.
Add half the filling along the shorter edge. Roll up the mixture into a long cylinder and then roll around in a spiral to make the rose shape. Brush liberally with olive oil, sprinkle nigella seeds over the börek, then bake for 20 minutes at 200 c until they turn a golden-brown colour. Serve hot or allow to cool - they taste great both ways.
