Beyaz Fırın Etiler ★ 4.1
Beyaz Fırın in Etiler, a heritage Turkish bakery dating to 1836, working out of a two-floor Nispetiye Caddesi space with a vertical garden and a 350-seat.
Worth the queue: Pogaca cheese rolls
History
Su boregi belongs to the Ottoman palace-kitchen tradition of layered yufka pastries that travelled from Central Asia through Anatolia. The brief water-boil between layers, which gives the borek its name, sets the pastry soft rather than crisp; Istanbul bakeries have served it as a breakfast and morning-tea staple for generations.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 10 sheets ready-made yufka pastry (or fresh filo, doubled)
- 300g Turkish beyaz peynir or feta, crumbled
- 1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 2 eggs
- 200ml whole milk
- 200g unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon flaky salt
- 3 litres water
- 1 tablespoon coarse salt (for boiling)
Method
- Heat oven to 200C. Brush a 30 by 22cm baking tin with melted butter.
- Bring the water to a rolling boil with coarse salt. Set a bowl of iced water next to the stove.
- Beat the eggs with milk, butter and flaky salt in a wide bowl.
- Lower one yufka sheet into the boiling water with tongs for 10 seconds, transfer to iced water for 5 seconds, then lift onto a clean tea towel to drain.
- Lay 2 sheets, unboiled, in the bottom of the tin, brushed with the egg-butter wash.
- Layer 6 boiled-and-drained sheets one at a time, brushing each generously with the wash.
- After the third boiled sheet, scatter the cheese and parsley evenly across.
- Continue with the remaining boiled sheets, brushing with wash between each.
- Top with 2 unboiled sheets, brushed with the last of the wash and butter.
- Score the top into 8 squares with a sharp knife. Bake 35 to 45 minutes until deep golden.
- Rest 10 minutes, then cut along the score lines and serve warm.
Tip from the editors. If the slab is dry at the edges, you brushed too thinly; the wash should pool slightly between every layer, the cheese softening into a custard as it bakes.
Where to eat su böreği (water borek)
Su böreği (water borek) in Istanbul
Beyaz Fırın Brasserie ★ 4.0
Beyaz Fırın in Etiler, the heritage bakery's brasserie sister doing a full Turkish breakfast on the upper deck and bottomless pastry baskets from its own.
Order: Sucuklu yumurta and the pogaca basket
Van Kahvaltı Evi ★ 4.5
Van Kahvaltı Evi in Cihangir, the dense Eastern-Anatolian serpme spread of herb cheese, kaymak and clotted-cream eggs that defines a Sunday Turkish breakfast.
Order: Otlu peynir, kaymak with honey and clotted-cream eggs
More cities are in research. Want su böreği (water borek) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.