My brother-inlaw is from Macedonia and this is how they make it. Bakeries and street vendors dealing exclusively in bourekas can be found in most Israeli cities. It is found in the cuisines of the Balkans, the South Caucasus, the Levant, and other parts of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. There are 895 immigration records available for the last name Burek. Then it was adopted by the Ottoman Turks and spread through their military empire. The shapes and choice of seeds are usually indicative of their fillings and have become fairly standard among small bakeries and large factories alike. Bourekas with a pizza sauce are often round spirals rising toward the middle or sometimes cylindrical without seeds, differentiated from the bean sprout-filled cylinders without seeds by the red sauce oozing out the ends. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. The use of margarine in bourekas has caused some controversy in Israel due to a general trend of moving away from trans fats, which are found in many margarines.[22]. He came into a bakery and asked for a Burek. They have been enthusiastically adopted by the Ottoman Jewish communities, and have been described, along with boyos de pan and bulemas, as forming "the trio of preeminent Ottoman Jewish pastries".[11]. [28] A publication of a diploma thesis on this at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana in 2010 stirred controversy regarding the appropriateness of the topic. Севортян, Этимологический Словарь Тюркских Языков, Том Б, Москва 1978, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Food in Motion: The Migration of Foodstuffs and Cookery Techniques : Proceedings : Oxford Symposium 1983", "An introduction to Albanian food in 10 dishes", "Кулинарните недоразумения на българско-сръбската езикова граница", http://www.thessalonikiartsandculture.gr/blog/texnopersona/i-istoria-tis-bougatsas#.Vwkdo5yLT4Y, http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-bougatsa, Κοπιάστε στην Κουζίνα μου. The defining characteristics of lakror is that it is made up of only two layers of pastry and traditionally cooked on embers with a metal semispherical lid[15]. This kind of pastry is also popular in Croatia, where it was imported by Bosnian Croats, and is usually called rolani burek (rolled burek). [citation needed], The Bulgarian version of the pastry, locally called byurek (Cyrillic: бюрек), is typically regarded as a variation of banitsa (баница), a similar Bulgarian dish. Pastries in the börek family are also called pita (pie): tiropita, spanakopita and so on. The recipe was brought by a Turkish baker Mehmed Oglu from Istanbul to my home town of Niš in 1498. Bean sprout-filled are cylindrical without seeds. The Burek family name was found in the USA, and Canada between 1911 and 1920. This is because although the ingredients are simple (flour, water, oil, salt,sugar), so no yeast, the ratio is a kind of a secret that you can easily find out your self and they already have everything prepared. The most Burek families were found in the USA in 1920. In the Epirus, σκερ-μπουρέκ (derives from the Turkish şeker-börek, "sugar-börek") is a small rosewater-flavoured marzipan sweet. For example, Salty cheese (Bulgarian cheese)-filled as well as Tzfat cheese (from the city of Safed) with Za'atar-filled bourekas are usually somewhat flat triangles with white sesame seeds on top. The important thing is that dough is greased (oiled) before sou start the craziness from the video. Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Burek surname lived. I did not see though the whole process of making a burek because the video is only focused on preparing the dough. As of 2019, these terms seem to be virtually synonymous to one another, the reason being that Buregdžinica style shops would diversify and sell other pastries as well. The average life expectancy for Burek in 1954 was 42, and 74 in 2004. The final form can be small, individual triangles, especially from street vendors called 'Byrektore' which sell byrek and other traditional pastries and drinks. In Kosovo and few other regions byrek is also known as "pite". [9] Turkic languages in Arabic orthography, however, invariably write ك and not ق which rules out "bur-" which has a backed vowel /u/ at its core. Less salty cheese-filled are semi-circular and usually made with puff pastry. For the veterans among your Burek ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions. Morning Glory can attempt this in her spare time. Burek is only with meat. There are 937 military records available for the last name Burek. Galaktoboureko is a syrupy phyllo pastry filled with custard, common throughout Greece and Cyprus. Börek was a popular element of Ottoman cuisine, and may have been invented at the Ottoman court, though there are also indications it was made among Central Asian Turks; other versions may date to the Classical era of the eastern Mediterranean. Eggplant-filled are cylindrical with nigella seeds. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations. *We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs. Supermarkets stock a wide selection of frozen raw-dough bourekas ready for home baking. A special type of boureki is found in the local cuisine of Crete and especially in the area of Chania. In 1940, Laborer and Stenographer were the top reported jobs for men and women in the US named Burek. [7][8] Sevortyan offers various alternative etymologies, all of them based on a fronted vowel /ö/ or /ü/. He explained the controversy as a good example of the conclusions of the student. Step 4: Remove the pan from the heat, add the paprika, allspice and cinnamon, stir through and allow the meat mixture to cool. Traditionally, it is baked on embers like lakror.[15]. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more. Tietze proposes that the word comes from the Turkic root bur- 'to twist',. In Albania, this dish is called byrek. So you need practice with this one. Bourekas come in small, "snack" size, often available in self-service bakeries, and sizes as large as four or five inches. leek and gjizë (a kind of cottage cheese, thicker than ricotta), lakër being an Albanian word for cabbage but in this context an abbreviation of "lakër e egër", a term which describes a family of green leaf vegetables i.e. Turkey enjoys a wide variety of regional variations of börek among the different cultures and ethnicities composing it, including: 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. Tietze proposes that the word comes from the Turkic root bur- 'to twist',. According to my dear friend Srdjan, who is from Montenegro (part of the former Yugoslavia), burek can be found throughout Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. In 1920 there were 11 Burek families living in Illinois. [18] The Greek city of Serres achieved the record for the largest puff pastry on 1 June 2008. [35] They are traditionally eaten in the last day of fasting at the time of the Christmas Eve. There are 2,000 census records available for the last name Burek. [21] It's almost identical in name and form to pirozhki (Russian: пирожки), which is of Slavic origin, and popular in Russia and further east. An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Burek ancestors lived in harsh conditions. It may be eaten for any meal of the day. In Venetian Corfu, boureki was also called burriche,[20] and filled with meat and leafy greens. Bulgarian byurek is a type of banitsa with sirene cheese, the difference being that byurek also has eggs added. 42% of Burek men worked as a Laborer and 17% of Burek women worked as a Stenographer. Lastly, it is oven-baked or fried. Some less common occupations for Americans named Burek were Miner and Waitress, View Census data for Burek | Data not to scale. All I can do here is admire this short film. These are usually homemade and not traditionally offered in bakeries. Between 1954 and 2004, in the United States, Burek life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1954, and highest in 1998. Υγιεινές – αυθεντικές Ελληνικές και Κυπριακές συνταγές, "Neverjetno - na FDV je mogoče diplomirati iz bureka!? For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. I hope you could try it sometimes. Börek or burek, a family of pastries or pies made in the Middle East and the Balkans; Kenn Borek Air, a Canadian airline; This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Borek. It was fun to watch if I can say anything about it. You can see how Burek families moved over time by selecting different census years. [36], Related cuisines: European • Balkan • Greek • Italian • Levantine • Mediterranean • Ottoman, For the 2004 album and song by Bosnian singer Dino Merlin, see, Greek bouréki, bourekáki, bougatsa, and pita, Round burek in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Slovenia, Perry, Charles. Israeli bourekas come in several shapes and are often sprinkled with seeds. Step 3: Add the mince and fry until browned and slightly crumbly (drain off excess moisture or fat). In Israel, bourekas (Hebrew: בורקס‎) became popular as Sephardic Jewish immigrants who settled there cooked the cuisine of their native countries. The most common fillings include: cheese (especially gjizë, salted curd cheese), ground meat and onions (ragù style filling), spinach and eggs, milk and eggs with pre-baked dough layers, but it can also be made with tomato and onions, peppers and beans, potato or a sweet filling of pumpkin, nettles (known as byrek me hithra),[14] kidney beans (popular in winter),[15] etc. It an interesting story behind this pastry. Lakror is generally filled with greens, e.g. [10], Börek is very popular in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, especially in North Africa and throughout the Balkans. Similar dishes, although somewhat wider and with thinner dough layers, are called savijača or just "pita" in Serbia. [29] The mentor of the student that had written the thesis described the topic as legitimate and burek as denoting primitive behavior in Slovenia in spite of it being a sophisticated food. Niš hosts an annual burek competition and festival called Buregdžijada. Lakror is a specific kind of byrek from the region of Korça. The Burek family name was found in the USA, and Canada between 1911 and 1920. Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press. Step 1: Heat the oven to around 200°C (400°F). In 2012, Lonely Planet included the Bosnian burek in their "The World's Best Street Food" book.[23][24]. Spinach-filled are either cylindrical with sesame seeds or made with a very delicate, oily phyllo dough shaped into round spirals. Polish: nickname from a derivative of bury ‘auburn(-haired)’. [27], In Slovenia, burek is one of the most popular fast-food dishes, but at least one researcher found that it is viewed negatively by Slovenes due to their prejudices towards immigrants, especially those from other countries of Former Yugoslavia. Burek is traditionally eaten with yogurt. A story about Bosnian fellow in Belgrade goes like this. Börek was a popular element of Ottoman cuisine, and may have been invented at the Ottoman court,[1][2] though there are also indications it was made among Central Asian Turks;[3] other versions may date to the Classical era of the eastern Mediterranean.[4][5][6]. Börek is also part of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jewish traditions. Simply start with a family member and we'll do the searching for you. This was about 15% of all the recorded Burek's in the USA. The regional cuisine of the Moldavian West bank of the Pruth still yields a type of dumpling-like food called burechiuşe (sometimes called burechiţe) which is described as dough in the shape of a ravioli-like square which is filled with mushrooms such as Boletus edulis, and sealed around its edges and then tossed and subsequently boiled in borscht like soups[34] or chorbas. ", "Peter Stankovič: Burek je sofisticirana hrana", "Študentka FDV diplomirala na temo Pomeni bureka v Sloveniji", Alexander REINHARDT, Gazeta de agricultura - Credinte si traditii de Ajun si Craciun, "Photo of a plate with "ciorba de burchite, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Börek&oldid=978262338, Articles needing additional references from June 2020, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2020, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 September 2020, at 21:29. Burek is an integral part of Slavic cuisine.. Small coffee-shop type establishments as well as lottery and sports betting parlors serving bourekas and coffee can also be found. You've only scratched the surface of Burek family history. Tatar böreği (Tatar börek) is an alternative name for the cheese and mint filled dumpling dish known as mantı.[13]. In 1920 there were 11 Burek families living in Illinois. Discover the unique achievements of ancestors in your family tree, Browse profiles of historical people with the Burek last name, This page needs Javascript enabled in order to work properly. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. [16], In Greece, boureki (μπουρέκι [buˈreki]) or bourekaki (μπουρεκάκι [bureˈkaki], the diminutive form of the word), and Cyprus poureki (πουρέκι, in the Greek dialects of the island) are small pastries made with phyllo dough or with pastry crust. What did your Burek ancestors do for a living. In 1498, it was introduced by a famous Turkish baker, Mehmed Oğlu from Istanbul. Eggs are used as a binding agent when making sirnica and zeljanica. In Bosnia the name Burek refers only to original Meat Burek unlike in Serbia where you have too choose from many types. Monthly Site Maintenance Costs (2019/2020), View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlIQhtvYaPY. Byrek is traditionally made with several layers of dough that have been thinly rolled out by hand. Assyrian burek is usually stuffed with spiced ground beef, finely chopped onion, paprika, parsley and spices. [4][5][6], Recent ethnographic research indicates that börek was probably invented separately by the nomadic Turks of central Asia some time before the seventh century. The most popular fillings are salty cheese and mashed potato, with other fillings including mushrooms, ground meat, sweet potato, chickpeas, olives, spinach, mallows, swiss chard, eggplant and pizza-flavour. Bourekas can be made from either phyllo dough or puff pastry filled with various fillings. In Serbian towns, Bosnian pastry dishes were imported by war refugees in the 1990s, and are usually called sarajevske pite or bosanske pite (Sarajevo pies or Bosnian pies). The guy in the video is making an empty burek which is very popular as well. The traditional filling for spanakopita comprises chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions or spring onions, egg, and seasoning.[17]. In the former Yugoslavia, burek, also known as pita in Bosnia and Herzegovina exclusively, is an extremely common dish, made with yufka and the Bosnian variant is arguably the most regionally prominent.[23]. There are different regional variations of byrek. In Dobrogea, eastern territory that used to be a Turkish province, one can find both the Turkish influence - plăcintă dobrogeana either filled with cheese or with minced meat and served with sheep yoghurt or the Tatar street food Suberek - a deep fried half Moon cheese filled dough. The South Slavic cuisines also feature derivatives of the börek. It is often consumed with yogurt. It can also be made as one large byrek that is cut into smaller pieces. I make Burek but I make it in around 10 inch cake pan I layer the phyllo dough then about half way I put in amixture of pork sausage and ground beef then layer it the rest of the way. [30] Actually, already in 2008, an employee of the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SRC SASA) had attained his PhD degree with a thesis on meta-burek at the University of Nova Gorica.[31][32][33]. "The Taste for Layered Bread among the Nomadic Turks and the Central Asian Origins of Baklava", in, Tietze, Türkisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Band I, Ankara/Wien, Э.В. It weighed 182.2kg, was 20 metres long, and was made by more than 40 bakers.[19]. [clarification needed] Meat bourekas are made from lamb, beef or chicken mixed with onion, parsley, coriander, or mint, pine nuts and spices, They are served as hot meze. Traditionally it may be baked with no filling (prazan, meaning empty), with stewed minced meat and onions, or with cheese. Börek (Turkish pronunciation: [bœˈɾec]; also burek and other variants) 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. Burek, or Börek is made with phyllo pastry and filled with meat or cheese.Burek originated in Central Asia. Tietze's proposed source "bur-" (with a backed vowel /u/) for büräk/börek (with fronted vowels) is not included, because sound harmony would dictate a suffix "-aq" with a harmonised, backed /q/. Mushroom-filled are bulging triangles with poppy seeds. The race and Hispanic origin distribution of the people with the name BUREK is 97.7% White, 0.8% Hispanic origin, 0.0% Black, 0.6% Asian or Pacific Islander, 1.0% Two or More Races, and 0.0% American Indian or Alaskan Native. View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Burek. A popular combination is spinach, feta, cottage cheese (or pot cheese) and a splash of anise-flavoured liquor (such as raki). Tuna-filled are bulging triangles with nigella seeds. It is made up of layers of a flour and water batter, cream and butter. In Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Slovenia, burek is made from layers of dough, alternating with layers of other fillings in a circular baking pan and then topped with a last layer of dough. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Burek census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more. [25] Eventually burek spread from the southeast (southern Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia) to the rest of Yugoslavia. Potato-filled are sesame topped, flat squares or rectangles made with phyllo and tend to be less oily than most other versions. It is a pie filled with sliced zucchini, sliced potatoes, mizithra or feta cheese and spearmint, and may be baked with or without a thick top crust of phyllo. It is really a delicious food. A börek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. Step 2: Fry the onions until soft and almost caramelised. The North African version, Brik can also be found in Israel. sorrel, dandelion, scarole, catsear, etc. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. In Armenia, byorek (բյորեկ) or borek (բորեկ), consists of dough, or phyllo dough, folded into triangles and stuffed with cheese, spinach or ground beef, and the filling is typically spiced. In Romania, the food falls under the name "plăcintă" and is most often made with cheese or cheese and spinach. I think it looks like an apple pie. Meat bourekas are less common at bakeries and are considered something which is to be made at home. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the USA, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure. It is not clear if the burechiuşe derive their name from the Turco-Greek börek (which is a distinct possibility given the fact that Ottoman Moldavia was ruled for many decades by dynasties of Greek Phanariotes who encouraged Greek colonists to settle in the area), so at the receiving end of cultural and culinary influences coming from them, or it takes its name from that of the mushroom Boletus (burete in its Romanian language rhotacised version, and it meant "mushroom" as well as "sponge") by the pattern of the ravioli, which were named after the Italian name of the turnip with which they were once filled. Börek may have its origins in Turkish cuisine and may be one of its most significant and, in fact, ancient elements of the Turkish cuisine, having been developed by the Turks of Central Asia before their westward migration to Anatolia in the late Middle Ages,[2][3] or it may be a descendant of the pre-existing Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Anatolian dish en tyritas plakountas (Byzantine Greek: εν τυρίτας πλακούντας) "cheesy placenta", itself a descendant of placenta, the classical baked layered dough and cheese dish of Ancient Roman cuisine. This was about 15% of all the recorded Burek's in the USA. Bougatsa (Greek μπουγάτσα [buˈɣatsa]) is a Greek variation of a börek which consists of either semolina custard, cheese, or minced meat filling between layers of phyllo, and is said to originate in the city of Serres, an art of pastry brought with the immigrants from Constantinople and is most popular in Thessaloniki, in the Central Macedonia region of Northern Greece.