Bourekia are the Cypriot sweet fried pastries — small half-moons of thin dough filled with sweetened anari cheese and cinnamon, deep-fried until golden and dusted with sugar. Eaten warm, they are the Cypriot cousin of Turkish or Greek bourekia, but the anari-and-cinnamon filling and the sweet (not savory) character make them distinctly Cypriot.
Bourekia are the Cypriot sweet pastry — the name comes from the Turkish börek (and the broader Ottoman pastry tradition), but the Cypriot version is filled with sweetened anari (the fresh Cypriot whey cheese, similar to ricotta) and cinnamon, fried, and dusted with sugar. They are eaten as a dessert or with coffee, especially at Easter and celebrations. The sweet (not savory) filling distinguishes them from most other bourekia in the Eastern Mediterranean — this is a dessert pastry, not a savory meze item. Handmade at home and sold in bakeries, they are a Cypriot tea-time institution.
A small, golden, half-moon pastry, dusted with sugar, hot from the fry. Bite in: the dough shatters; inside, a warm, sweet, creamy anari filling, flecked with cinnamon. The contrast of crisp and creamy, sweet and slightly tangy from the cheese, is perfect. Eat three, with a small coffee.
The dough is a simple flour-water-oil-salt dough, rolled very thin (like phyllo but more rustic). The anari filling must be well-drained (wet filling bursts the pastry) and sweetened with sugar and cinnamon. The pastries are sealed tight (crimped with a fork) so no filling leaks during frying. The oil must be at 175°C — hot enough to crisp the dough in 3-4 minutes without burning. Dust with sugar while still warm so it sticks.
Variations
Some use ricotta if anari is unavailable; some add a little rose water; some bake instead of fry; the size varies.
On the Palate
Where Bourekia sits in the Cypriot flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12
How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour 20 min active + 40 min waiting
- 132 min
Make dough: 400 g flour, 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 pinch salt, and enough warm water (about 150 ml) to make a firm dough; rest 30 minutes.
- 25 min
Make filling: drain 400 g anari (or ricotta); mix with 100 g sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 beaten egg.
Watch outDrain the anari well and keep the filling stiff — a wet, loose filling bursts the pastry and leaks into the frying oil.
- 310 min
Roll the dough paper-thin; cut into 8-cm circles.
- 415 min
Place 1 tbsp filling on each circle; fold to a half-moon; crimp the edges with a fork.
Watch outSeal the half-moons tight with a fork all around — any open seam lets filling escape and spit in the hot oil.
- 53 min
Heat oil to 175°C.
- 614 min
Fry the bourekia in batches 3-4 minutes until deep gold.
Watch outFry at 175°C until deep gold, three to four minutes — hotter burns the dough before it crisps, cooler leaves it greasy and pale.
- 72 min
Drain on paper.
- 82 min
Dust with sugar mixed with a little cinnamon; serve warm.
