Middle Eastern Delights: Bourekas
Have you ever heard of a bureka? A boreka? A boureka? A burek?
A boureka is a flaky, savory pastry that is usually filled with cheeses, meats and vegetables. Whichever way you spell the Middle Eastern delight, Gazala Place, nestled in Hell’s kitchen, is the best place to try one.
Gazala makes two versions of the delicious pastry, one with goat cheese and spinach, another with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese. What makes their boureka so special?
These bourekas are unique because of the freshness of the ingredients: the goat cheese and the pastry dough are made in-house, and the spinach is never frozen. Owner Gazala Halabi buys fresh yogurt to make into goat cheese, which takes four to five days. Her bourekas stand out because of the goat cheese filling—instead of the usual feta— giving these bourekas a rich, tangy center. The dough tastes deliciously buttery, but surprisingly is made only with olive oil. The flakiness of the pastry is achieved through a two-day process of refrigerating the olive oil, cutting it and rolling bits of cold oil into the dough. Though the boureka-making process takes days, it’ll only take you a few seconds of bliss to finish one.
–Alyssa Maldonato
Categories: Hell's Kitchen bites