Popeye the Sailor Man<\/a>! Showing my age now, aren\u2019t I?
\nOne staple ingredient I tend to have on hand is filo (or phyllo) pastry. I prefer the brand that is kept in the refrigerator, not the freezer, for two main reasons; it has a long use-by date, and is less fragile to work with than the frozen variety, which seems to dry out so much as it thaws. Even the refrigerated brand can be re-wrapped whenever you don\u2019t use it all in the one go.
\nAnd it\u2019s so versatile \u2013 you can wrap, roll, fold, and tuck it around all manner of fillings! Therefore, may I introduce you to the extended B\u00f6rek (burek) family of baked or fried filled pasties? Made using phyllo pastry \u2013 the outer resemblances or chief characteristics, as in all families – can be detected. But it\u2019s the fillings, and more importantly the shapes which determine which branch of the family these delicious, mostly savoury, parcels originate from!
\nInvented in Central Asia by nomadic Turks, b\u00f6rek, can be the genealogical tool by which we can trace how one cuisine borrows, copies and re-invents food to give it a new complexion. They can be filled with cheese \u2013 very often feta \u2013 or minced meat or vegetables. A b\u00f6rek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. The top of the b\u00f6rek is often sprinkled with sesame seeds.
\nB\u00f6rek is very popular in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire \u2013 immediately your sense of the exotic should be aroused. Open up the map and envisage the area of north eastern coast of Africa \u2013 my research into the B\u00f6rek introduced me to the term Maghreb cuisine \u2013 referring to five countries located in North Africa. An Arabic word, literally meaning \u201cplace of sunset\u201d or \u201cthe west\u201d, the term is generally now used, mainly by Arabs, to refer collectively to the African countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and into the Western Sahara.<\/p>\nSilverbeet Rolani B\u00f6rek <\/strong><\/p>\nIngredients
\n1 large bunch silverbeet
\n1 tsp sumac
\n1 dessertsp dried mint (or fresh)
\nfreshly ground black pepper
\n1 tsp chilli flakes
\n\u00bd cup shredded mozzarella
\n\u00bd brown onion
\n16 sheets filo (phyllo) pastry
\n\u00bc cup EVOO (or
\nmelted butter)<\/p>\n
Method
\nPre-heat the oven to 160C. Strip the leaves from the silverbeet, retain the white stems. Carefully wash leaves and stems in a large bowl of water \u2013 I used the water to give some of my pot plants a drink \u2013 no waste! Finely chop the onion and chop the silverbeet stems into roughly 1-2 cm pieces. Squeeze as much water as you can from the leaves, bundle them up and chop them into long shreds. Add 1 tablspn EVOO to a medium saucepan or frying pan and saut\u00e9 the onion until just translucent. Add the stems and cook until slightly softened, finally ad the leaves, increase the heat and turn the mix over and over so the leaves wilt slightly. Add dried chilli flakes, black pepper, sumac and mint, and stir \u2013 reduce the heat. Scatter mozzarella onto this mixture, turn off the heat. Take 4 sheets of phyllo \u2013 brushing each sheet with olive oil and layer one upon the other. Spread a quarter of the spinach-cheese mixture along the length of the phyllo and roll the pastry over to make a long shape. Cupping your hands round the roll, coax the pastry into a coil shape and tuck the end in. Repeat for the other three portions of mixture \u2013 brush the tops of the pastry coils with olive oil and sprinkle with a little more sumac, some ground black pepper. Bake in a moderate oven until the pastry is browned and crisp \u2013 about 15 mins. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm. These can be frozen. Serves 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A gift of surplus silverbeet from my green-thumbed neighbour was very welcome (I hasten to add it was passed over to me keeping strict social distancing etiquette!). Silverbeet is not to everyone\u2019s liking as it has a somewhat metallic, earthy flavour, a very clean taste methinks \u2013 and I love it. Almost as much as […]<\/p>\n
Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":38244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-38241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOn The Plate: Introducing the b\u00f6reks - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/living\/on-the-plate-boreks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On The Plate: Introducing the b\u00f6reks - Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A gift of surplus silverbeet from my green-thumbed neighbour was very welcome (I hasten to add it was passed over to me keeping strict social distancing etiquette!). 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