Börek

Work quickly with phyllo to prevent drying. Brush generously with butter between layers for maximum flakiness.

Börek is the pastry of empires. Its earliest written mention appears in the 12th-century Turkish epic Danishmendnâme, where a sweet börek is referenced, and a related pastry called päräk appears in the 14th-century Chinese cookbook Yinshan Zhengyao, compiled at the Yuan dynasty court. In the same century, the Persian poet Bushaq-i At'ima wrote a humorous poem imagining a battle between börek and pilaf for supremacy at the table. Wikipedia notes that the thin sheets of filo or yufka dough that give börek its signature texture are believed to have been perfected in the imperial kitchens of Topkapı Palace in Ottoman Istanbul. By the early 16th century, börek bakeries in Constantinople reportedly outnumbered all other bakeries four to one, and the pastry was eaten by everyone from street vendors to the Grand Vizier. History Today confirms that during the reign of Sultan Mehmet IV (1648–1687), börek was the centrepiece of the imperial council's ceremonial meals at Topkapı. As the Ottoman Empire expanded across Southeast Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, börek traveled with it, adapting to every kitchen it encountered. In Bosnia it was twisted into spirals and filled with minced meat or cottage cheese. In Crete it became boureki, filled with zucchini and feta. In North Africa regional versions appeared in Tunisia and Algeria. Sephardic Jewish communities who settled in Constantinople after the 1492 Spanish Expulsion adopted it into their own cuisine as bourekas, a tradition still celebrated at Shabbat breakfast tables in Israel today. Feta and herb börek — the version on this table — represents its most beloved and enduring form.