“Few dishes,” according to food writer Zeynep Betul, “embody the spirit of Turkish cuisine as perfectly as börek”. This family of crunchy, flaky pastries in various shapes and fillings are “immensely popular” throughout the country, says award-winning author Özlem Warren: “Even the fussiest child,” she assures readers of her book Özlem’s Turkish Table, “will … ask for seconds.”
So foundational do börek seem to be to Turkish life that a conservative female politician made headlines a few years ago for a tweet claiming that, if a woman didn’t know how to make them, “her family is doomed to disintegration”. In reality, as others were quick to point out, though börek aren’t difficult to prepare (and, with practice, perfect), many Turkish women, as well as men, choose to buy them instead, without obvious domestic repercussions. As journalist Belgin Akaltan puts it: “You can make börek for your own pleasure, for your own pastime. Just for fun. For your kids, for your husband, for your friends, for your guests, for your lesbian partner, but do not put it in the middle of your life as an objective, unless you are a professional cook.” They are indeed fun to make – but, I must concede, even more fun to eat.
