From the Burekas Box kitchen
Burekas vs. borek:
what’s the difference?
Related names, delicious variations. The dough, filling and way a pastry is shaped tell you more than the spelling alone.
Names with a shared connection
You may see burekas written as bourekas or borekas. These spellings reflect the way the name travels between languages. The Jewish English Lexicon traces it through Turkish, Ladino and Hebrew.
Börek is a Turkish name for a broad family of filled pastries. Burekas also have a place in Sephardic Jewish cooking. They are closely related traditions with many family and regional variations, rather than two fixed recipes.
The pastry makes a difference
Many Turkish börek recipes use yufka, a thin dough that can be layered, folded or rolled around a filling. Burekas recipes vary too: Jewish Food Society documents both folded pastries made with an oil-based dough and a spinach-and-cheese version made by stretching dough thin and rolling it into a spiral.
So a triangle, a spiral or a crisp layer of pastry is not enough to draw a universal dividing line. Look at the recipe and ask the bakery what is inside.
What’s inside ours?
At Burekas Box, our savory fillings include classic cheese, spinach & cheese, golden potato, caramelized mushroom & onion, pizza, and corn & cheese. We serve our golden, flaky pastries with traditional accompaniments such as hard-boiled eggs, olives, pickles, grated tomato and BBox Green Sauce.
Explore our fillings and sides
Bring burekas to your next gathering
Planning lunch for the office or a private celebration in San Diego? Explore drop-off catering, a hosted catering setup or a private electric food truck experience. We’ll help plan the menu and quantities around your guests.