This sweet pastry is a delicious matrimony of flaky filo dough, syrup, and a mixture of nuts, like walnuts and pistachios. There are dozens of varieties and countries have their own variations of making them. There's no right or wrong. Only amaze-balls.
I rarely make a trip to New Jersey, but my friend insisted on this place Istanbul Borek in Cliffside Park, NJ. So we decided, why the heck not! We got in the car, stomachs running on E, and went with holographic images of baklava floating around our heads. And basically everything else we wanted to eat. This place had it all!
It is a cute little place right on Palisade Avenue. The four of us sat at a table and began salivating reading the familiar Middle Eastern foods on the menu.
First up: The drinks and the mezes (fancy-schmancy word for appetizer plates). We ordered the soslu patlican (eggplant with sauce), sigara borek (literally "cigarette borek" - fried filo dough shaped in a cylinder filled with feta cheese and herbs), and patatesli borek (fried filo dough filled with potato). Yes. Everything is fried. Everything is PHENOM (that's a thing, right?). For drinks we ordered ayran, which is not for everyone, but because we've grown up with it we were excited to see it was on the menu. It is a beverage of yogurt mixed with cold water and salt. It's so freaking delicious that you're just going to have to trust me.
Behold, the Ayran: Cold. Salty. SO GOOD.
Sigara Borek:
Mezes... They get the job done. Now for our entrees! I had a sujukli pide, a Turkish dish of a variation of meats and cheeses on soft baked dough. It's kind of like a Middle Eastern version of pizza, but so many more flavors! We also ordered lajmacun, another pizza-style dish. It is a thin baked piece of dough topped with minced meat, usually beef or lamb, and minced vegetables and herbs including onions, tomatoes and parsley.
Lahmacun:
Sujukli Pide: This was the best. Cheesy (kaser cheese, my favorite!), warm, doughy, and just a little spicy from the sujuk slices. Simply amazing.
And now the baklava! We asked for a "karışım" of baklava which means assortment.
And some Turkish tea! Chai time!
Everything blew our minds. It was definitely worth the 35 minute drive from Queens.
We love you, Istanbul Borek!
0 comments:
Post a Comment