Burek 2Burek

Börek (also burek and other variants) is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as phyllo. It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables. Most probably invented in what is now Modern Turkey, in the Anatolian Provinces of the Ottoman Empire in its early era, to become a popular element of Ottoman cuisine.

Burek In the World

Börek in Turkish language refers to any dish made with yufka. Börek has its origins in the Turkish cuisine (cf. Baklava) and is 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 Albania, this dish is called byrek, burek, or lakror; the most common fillings include or spinach and egg, but it can also be made with, tomato and onion, peppers and beans, potato or a sweet filling of pumpkin. Lakror generally would have a filling of greens, lakër being an Albanian word for cabbage. Byrek is traditionally made with several layers of dough that have been thinly rolled out by hand. The final form can be small, individual triangles, especially from street vendors called ‘Byrektore’ which sell byrek and other traditional pastries and drinks. It can also be made as one large byrek that is cut into smaller pieces. Byrek is traditional to southern Albania but is made throughout the country with variations. They can be served cold or hot.

Former Yugoslavia
Across the territories of former Yugoslavia, burek is regularly available at most bakeries, and usually eaten as “fast food”. It is often consumed with yogurt. Apart from being sold at bakeries, burek is served in specialized stores selling burek (or pitas) and yogurt exclusively (Buregdžinica).

Bosnian burek
Bosnian rolled burek

In the former Yugoslavia, burek, also known as pita, is an extremely common dish, and the Bosnian variant is arguably the most regionally prominent.It may be eaten for any meal of the day. In Bosnia, among the local Muslims (or Bosniaks), a specially prepared somun with egg yolk and seasonings is a traditional bread for dinners during the fast in the month of Ramadan.



In 2012, Lonely Planet included the Bosnian burek in their “The World’s Best Street Food” book.


In Serbian towns, Bosnian pastry dishes were imported by war refugees in the 1990s, and are usually called sarajevske pite or bosanske pite (Sarajevan pies or Bosnian pies). Similar dishes, although somewhat wider and with thinner dough layers, are called savijača or just “pita” in Serbia. These are usually homemade and not traditionally offered in bakeries.

Serbian round burek (filled with ground meat)


The recipe for “round” burek was developed in the Serbian town of Niš. In 1498, it was introduced by a famous Turkish baker, Mehmed Oğlu from Istanbul. Eventually burek spread from the southeast (southern Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia) to the rest of Yugoslavia. Most bakers who offer burek in Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia originate from the Niš area of southern Serbia, Kosovo or Macedonia.

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 the countries of Former Yugoslavia. 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. 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. He explained the controversy as a good example of the conclusions of the student. 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.

Mississauga – Burhamthorpe Fruit Market
We at Burnhamthorpe Fruit Market were working really hard to find a perfect Burek. We searched entire world to bring only the best Burek in Mississauga so that our customers can enjoy the best Burek in Canada. The result can be find at our store. We can offer you a wide variaty of Bureks in diferent sizes and packaging wheter you want it already baked or you preffer to bake it at home and share it with your friends.