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Middle Eastern Festivities …
including a recipe for Boreks

by Adam Keen

I moved recently to South-East London to look after a flat for a friend away teaching Yoga in India. Myself, and my partner Barbara knew no-one in the area, and I found myself commuting back and forth to teach Yoga in Central London, using the flat solely to to eat and sleep, as if the flat existed in a dangerous wasteland I passed through on my way to the station, and could insulate myself from as soon as I closed the door. I posed myself the question of “Where did I think I was?”, and quite naturally couldn’t find any sense of connection between me and the place in which I was staying.

Luckily, all it took to get back into the juiciness of community life is a little time on my part, and an enquiring, curious mind. As a result of organising my Middle Eastern Dinner at a Café just down the road from where I live, I have chatted over Jamaican Style Coffee and Fried Plantains whilst sourcing my ingredients at the local mini-market, discussed the current situation of British farming with local Market Traders, and talked about Meditation and a mutual love of Spain with the owner and chef of the local café. I have always found that involving people around food is simply a guaranteed way to bring so much richness into ones life; and I’m not just talking about the food…

Preparing a meal also helps to understand ones connection with the local surroundings. The world feels like it has makes sense; that it has a natural rhythm and order, as I pick over the Sprouts at Christmas, and relish the treat of the short British Strawberry or Asparagus season. In the case of my dinner, I was confronted with the challenge of using mainly root vegetables for my dishes, as that’s all that’s in season here right now. In fact, I found I was lucky in finding quite a range from which to choose, from Butternut squash to Turnip, but I must admit to sneaking a few Aubergines in (from Spain) as for me they really sum up the taste of The East.

Food is very high on the agenda of things to think about if one plans to lead a fully aware and responsible life. Eating is not something we can choose or not choose to do, and our food choices have a definitive affect often on people from far away lands who we will never see. It is not that one has to “be ethical”. The right choices come freely if we start to care about what we are eating, and this is never more so than with the quality of the product. There is nothing wrong with being a Gourmet. If I want the best cup of Coffee, or the best Olive-Oil, I will buy it from people that care about what they are doing; treating the land, and their workers with respect gratitude. In the same way, if I want the richest eating experience, I will try and find a family run establishment, where I know that there is more than money at stake in serving me. I no-longer want to be waited on, knowing that the waiters are underpaid and abused by the chefs, or to eat alone at a table with my partner. I want to make contact with other diners in the place, and learn about the dishes, in order to have a fully satisfying experience. My Middle Eastern Night attempted to nurture this kind of atmosphere, the fundamental idea behind it being to spread information, food being a great starting point, to lead to greater understanding, sharing and tolerance.

... Recipe ...

Boreks

This is a Turkish version of what is basically a small, stuffed parcel of dough. There are many variations of stuffing, dough, and cooking methods, and respectively many names for this depending on the country of origin. The Jewish speciality is a version called “Pasteles”, potentially the fore-runner of this pastry, which then spread through Spain to the Middle East where it is now more popularly known. From my travels in Greece and the Greek Islands, however, I would say that it is actually the Greeks that are the masters of this small stuffed-Pie; two very popular snack foods being “Spanikopitta”, Spinach pie, and “Tyropitta”, a soft white cheese pie, sometimes sweetened with honey, and eaten as a desert.

Pastry Dough

It is possible to get Organic Filo Pastry, although it is not exactly common. If you cannot find it (more than likely) and don’t want to use a non-organic substitute, you could make your own pastry-dough. Enough for 30 Boreks, this dough is a basic, and not too rich one. It is not a filo-dough, as this is incredibly difficult, and in fact, I have never seen one made in front of my eyes. If you want to substitute a puff-pastry recipe (or even use a bought-in puff-pastry, as it is rather tricky to make) you would actually have something more closely approximating the original.

500g Plain Flour
250g Butter
2 Eggs
4 tbsp cold water
Pinch of Salt

1. Sift flour, salt in a large bowl.
2. Cut butter into small pieces, then rub into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Beat the eggs and work into the flour/butter, slowly adding water until you can just gather the dough into one ball (Go slowly with the water, you can always add more, but an overly wet dough will be hard to roll).
4. Wrap tightly in clingfilm, and chill in the fridge for an hour before rolling.

Borek Stuffing

Feel free to experiment with whatever ingredients you fancy. Just be aware that they need to be pre-cooked, as the pastry itself only takes a few minutes. This is one Variation of the most common Turkish stuffing.

500g Spinach (you could use frozen for convenience. Many argue that it is actually more nutritious, having been frozen immediately trapping essential vitamins inside, that are lost after a couple of days from picking).
2 Onions
3 cloves of garlic
1 packet Organic Feta
100g sultanas
50g pinenuts or Walnuts
A handful of fresh herbs (dill, parsley, mint, or a combination)

Wash the Spinach well in cold water. Drain and put in a large pan over a low heat, covered. After 10 minutes it will be steamed using the water still on the leaves from washing. Gather the spinach into a ball, and put in a clean tea-towel, squeezing the excess water from the spinach through the tea-towel.
Cut the onions finely, and aute until transluscent, then turn the heat down and add the garlic.
After a couple of minutes add the sultanas, stir briefly, increasing the heat to medium, then add the spinach and stir until all the ingredients are mixed.
Take of the heat and mix in the herbs, cheese, and season with salt and pepper.

Making the Borek

1. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees.
2. Roll the dough out thinly on a floured work-surface into a large rectangle, or spread one sheet of filo out lengthways from you. Brush with melted butter, and repeat so you have a sheet of pastry 3/4 strips thick. If you are using a home-made dough, as it is much thinner, one piece, rolled is sufficient.
3. Cut into three strips down the length. Place a tablespoon of filling on the front edge of the dough and roll. I suggest rolling in triangles; taking the front left corner and folding it over the stuffing to make you first triangle. If using filo, repeat the process, turning at right angles to use the whole strip. With your dough, you will need to seal the corner of your triangle down by running a fingertip dipped in water between the two strips of pastry. Again, as it is thicker, that will be enough. Cut with a sharp knife, and repeat down the strip.
4. Grease a large baking tray, and bake on the top shelf of the oven at 220 degrees for 10 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Be vigilant, as it will burn easily.