page_title: Börek
section_title: Turkey
hierarchical_section_title: Börek / Distribution and variants / Turkey
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of a Çibörek and an Ayran.
context_page_description: Börek is a family of baked filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough such as phyllo or yufka, typically filled with meat, cheese or vegetables. It is found in the cuisines of the Balkans, the South Caucasus, the Levant, and other parts of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. A börek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. The top of the börek is occasionally sprinkled with sesame or nigella seeds.
context_section_description: Turkey enjoys a wide variety of regional variations of börek among the different cultures and ethnicities composing it, including:
  Su böreği 'water börek' is one of the most common types. Sheets of dough are boiled briefly in large pans, then a mixture of feta cheese and parsley (or in an  alternative recipe minced meat, onions, tomato sauce) and oil is scattered between the layers. The whole thing is brushed with butter and laid in a masonry oven to cook. it may be thought of as a drier, less saucy version of the Italian lasagna.
  Sigara böreği 'cigarette börek' or kalem böreği 'pen börek', a smaller, cylindrical variety is often filled with feta cheese, potato, parsley and sometimes with minced meat or sausage. A variety of vegetables, herbs and spices are used in böreks, such as spinach, nettle, leek, and courgette, and usually ground black pepper.  The name kalem böreği was adopted in September 2011 by some Turkish pastry organisations in order to avoid alluding to smoking.
  Paçanga böreği, is a traditional Sephardic Jewish specialty of Istanbul filled with pastırma or kaşar, and julienned green peppers fried in olive oil and eaten as a meze.
  Saray böreği 'palace börek' is a layered börek where fresh butter is rolled between each of the dough sheets.
  Talaş böreği or Nemse böreği 'sawdust' or 'Austrian' börek, is a small square börek mostly filled with lamb cubes and green peas, that has starchier yufka sheets, making it puffy and crispy.
  Kol böreği 'arm börek' is prepared in long rolls, either rounded or lined, and filled with either minced meat, feta cheese, spinach or potato and baked at a low temperature.
  Sarıyer böreği is a smaller and a little fattier version of the "Kol böreği", named after Sarıyer, a district of Istanbul
  Gül böreği 'rose börek', also known as Yuvarlak böreği 'round or spiral börek' are rolled into small spirals and have a spicier filling than other börek.
  Çiğ börek or Çibörek 'raw börek' is a half-round shaped börek, filled with raw minced meat and fried in oil on the concave side of the sac, very popular in places with a thriving Tatar community, such as Eskişehir, Polatlı and Konya.
  Töbörek is another Tatar variety, similar to a çiğ börek, but baked either on the convex side of the sac, or in a masonry oven instead of being fried in oil.
  Laz böreği, a specialty of the Rize region, is a sweet version, filled with muhallebi (Ottoman-style milk pudding or custard) and served sprinkled with powdered sugar. It similar to Greek Bougatsa.
  Küt Böreği is similar to Laz böreği, without the custard filling. It is also called sade (plain) börek and served with fine powdered sugar.
  Most of the time, the word "börek" is accompanied in Turkish by a descriptive word referring to the shape, ingredients of the pastry, for the cooking methods or for or a specific region where it is typically prepared, as in the above kol böreği, su böreği, talaş böreği or Sarıyer böreği.
  Tatar böreği (Tatar börek) is an alternative name for the cheese and mint filled dumpling dish known as mantı.
caption: Çibörek and Ayran
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