Who makes the best Börek in the Balkans?

DW (English)

They can be round, square or spiral and stuffed with mince meat, cheese or even nettles. Börek is a popular snack in the Balkans.

Transcript

00:00Wafer-thin yufka dough with a hearty filling. Börek, also known as burek or bürek, is

00:08a traditional pastry served across southeastern Europe, Turkey and many more countries too.

00:13But who makes the best? We asked around in Turkey, Serbia and Albania.

00:17I've tried börek in many parts of the world, but the variety in Turkey is unmatched.

00:27As a local, I'd say the börek from Nis, in Serbia, is not only the oldest, but also the best.

00:35My favourite type of börek, because I am from Tirana, is börek made with milk.

00:40Our journey begins in Istanbul in western Turkey. Here you can find the Turkish classic

00:45kolböre, a rolled dough usually filled with minced meat, a local bestseller.

00:54I'm Bülent Delbay. I've been making börek for 35 years at the family business.

00:59For great börek, come to Istanbul. Bon appetit!

01:07To make kolböre, you'll need flour, salt, water, sunflower oil, margarine and in this

01:15case the minced meat filling.

01:19First flatten the kneaded dough as thinly as possible. A little sunflower oil prevents

01:23it from sticking to your hands.

01:29We try to thin it out evenly on all sides.

01:33But we're not there just yet. The dough needs to be wafer-thin. To stretch it, the

01:37bakers whirl it skillfully through the air. Not forgetting, of course, the edges. The

01:42dough should be perfectly even, corner to corner.

01:49The example we give to people is that it should be as thin as a cigarette paper. But

01:53for us, making it is like walking. You don't think about how you walk. And we don't think

01:58about how we stretch dough.

02:01Now time for the filling. Minced meat is the big seller in this bakery. Ground beef, salt

02:06and pepper and cooked onions.

02:13Rolling is one of the parts in kolböre that requires significant skill. The filling shouldn't

02:18be too tight or too firm. If you pack it too tightly, the inside of the pastry doesn't

02:24cook. A small amount of air should be left inside so that the filling is cooked evenly

02:33and the pastry has a crispier texture.

02:40Time for the last fold.

02:46Now our börek is ready.

02:49Ready for the oven, that is. 35 to 45 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

02:56The börek here comes in all shapes and sizes and with various fillings, such as cheese

03:04or potatoes. But which is the best?

03:11In Turkey, being a meat-loving nation, we have lots of minced meat varieties and cheese

03:18varieties too. But it changes with the seasons. For instance, in winter, spinach and chard

03:24are included in börek.

03:29Börek is an age-old and very proud tradition here.

03:37Börek is a tradition that dates back thousands of years. But it held extra-special significance

03:43in the Ottoman cuisine. There were specially trained börek masters in the Ottoman Empire.

03:50Turkey is proud of its börek. But so are other countries, too.

03:59Like Serbia, for example. The residents of the third-largest city, Niş, even host a

04:04festival for the pastry, the Days of Börek. The classic filling here is cheese. And crucially,

04:11it has to be round. A baker from Constantinople, now Istanbul, invented it right here in the

04:1715th century, or so the story goes. Today it's considered one of the best hangover cures.

04:24You can tell by looking at me that I love börek. Cheese, meat, I'm not picky.

04:31I usually eat börek for breakfast. It's one of my favorite breakfasts, and always with

04:35drinking yogurt.

04:38In Albania, people are more flexible when it comes to the shape and filling of the börek.

04:43In addition to meat and cheese, the pastry is sometimes filled with spinach or even beans.

04:49It is eaten as a snack or as a main course.

04:53I work every day, so often I pack some börek. It's a meal that's good as a takeaway. I take

04:59it with me three or four times a week.

05:03As a breakfast, hangover cure, or just a snack between meals, börek is extremely versatile.

05:09Have you tried it?

Category

Transcript

Recommended