Bourek Algéroise | Algerian meat filled pastry

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

In my opinion, the ultimate way to amuse the mouth is with the little finger foods eaten all over the Mediterrnean with the thin layers of crackly dough that encases a delicious  mixture of oozing cheese, meats, vegetables and fresh herbs. Here in Algeria these are known as bourek  Algeria; Briouates in Morocco, Brik in Tunisia, Burek in the Balkans, Börek in Turkey and bourekia in Greek. And even sambouseks in the Middle East.

I remember when I was a teenager, we went on a road trip to Greece. This was my first taste of the delectable treat. One taste and I was addicted. After that I made my rounds sampling all the varieties of bourek out. So many to choose from ... who can really say which the best. They all are in my humble opinion.

It being Ramadan, no iftar table in Algeria is complete without Bourek. I have mentioned bourek several times before here and here.


But I have not shown the method of folding the Bourek cigares in which they are made in Alger, the capital of Algeria. So here goes ...

Bourek  Algéroise

active prep time: 5-10mins | inactive prep time: 0min | cook time: 25-30 mins 

12 boureks

• 12 leaves of diouel (brik) http://thetealtadjine.blogspot.com/2016/11/dioul-feuilles-de-bourek-homemade-north.html(recipe for homemade diouel here)
• 1 large onio, diced
• 250g - half pound ground beef
•  4 eggs
• bunch of chopped parsley
• wedges of Laughing cow cheese (or any other creme style cheese) half wedge per bourek
• pinch of salt, pepper, cinnamon  
• 1 egg + water for brushing
• Oil to fry in

• Optional - 1 large courgette, diced

1. Brown the onion until soft.
2. Now add the minced meat and stir well
3. Then add in the spices.
4. Cook over low fire for 10 and when the meat is thoroughly cooked break the eggs over the mixture
5. Keep stirring so the egg cooks in with the meat.
6. Leave to cool before filling the bourek pastry with it.
7. Fold the bourek as shown the above picture:
8. Seperate each sheet of diouel.
9. Place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the lower center of the sheet.
10. Fold the two o opposite edges of the sheet to get a rectangle.
11. Roll into cigar shape.
12.  Egg wash the seam of the bourek.
13. Fry the bourek in hot oil.
14. Salt still hot from the oil.
15. Drain dry in a napkin.

Serve warm with wedges of lemon to cut the greasiness. I like to rub each bourek with some lemon right before eating. (Others just squeeze the lemon all over)

Time - Wise

You can prepare the filling in advance and store in the fridge or the freezer. Or alternatively, prepare the boureks and freeze on sheet pans. Thaw out on the counter about 2 hours before cooking them.

Subsitute

Alternatively, bake the bourek in a 180° C oven instead of frying, for a healthier option.

If you can not find douel; also called Brik (in Tunisia) or warka (in Morocco) you can easily use phyllo dough, Turkish yutka, Chinese spring roll or eggroll leaves. Or you can do it by hand using a pastry dough for the bourek ... 

Or finally if you have the time, it is not very difficult to prepare your own douel. It is just time consuming: Just visit this post to learn how to make the diouel yourself!!!

Variation
You can use a wide variety of fillings for bourek. Anything you have in the fridge or pantry will work.

Mediterranean, Algerian, appetizers, Ramadan

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