Three Of A Kind Burek

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday September 5, 2006

Joanna Savill

Balkan Oven Bakery Cafe

This villagey side street just off the Princes Highway is cafe society, Balkan-style, with sunny rows of outdoor tables and burek for all comers. A strong contender for Sydney's best is made with hand-stretched pastry by a Macedonian master baker (the dough is hurled high above the head, like a giant sheet of bubble-gum and coaxed to muslin thinness). The master's artistry shows in crunchy, non-greasy pies, filled with gently salted farm cheese, minced, oniony beef or spinach and cheese ($4 a quarter). Apple, cabbage and leek-filled burek can be ordered a few hours ahead for $17 each. Ditto the novel pizza burek, filled with ham, tomato and mozzarella. For ultimate authenticity, though, there's boza and buttermilk on tap or an

ultra-fizzy Balkan lemonade called gazozu. You can finish with a sticky-syrupy triangle of baklava, a lighter version thereof called gibanica, crisp apple strudel rolls or super-gooey touloumbi - deep-fried pastry fingers just swimming in stickiness.

1-3 King Street, Rockdale, 9567 1102.

Tasic Hot Burek

"Burek Pecivo: Continental Pastry Food" reads the sign outside this long-time local landmark, one of few remnants of the days when the Fairfield area was home to many "former Yugoslavs". (Burek Pecivo means "hot burek".) The Tasic family honour the old ways with fat, hearty rounds of apple, cheese, meat and cheese-and-spinach burek, always ready to go at the front of the shop or to eat at one of the pink and blue booth-style tables ($4 a quarter). With buttermilk, if you so desire. They will also wrap them in foil, which definitely improves their takeaway potential. Another big favourite here is the fresh bread - in plate-sized rounds or as saucer-sized rolls, similar to Turkish bread in taste and texture and very, very nice.

113a The Crescent, Fairfield, 9726 1161.

Hytone Cake Shop

Once upon a time there was a famous burek shop in Newtown, run by a famous burek baker. After it closed (about 10 years ago) that baker spent some time passing on his secrets to fellow Serbs Mark and Vicky Ilic at their charmingly old-style Bondi Road premises where the flavour of Mittel Europ lives on in strudel and poppyseed. And burek. Having learnt from the master, Mark Ilic now stretches metres of dough each morning; winding stuffed, snake-like coils of fine pastry into small ($5.50) and larger size ($10) foil pie dishes which you can buy heated to go or to warm up later. The chunky, peppery meat version is particularly good but we like the sprinkled sesame seeds on the feta cheese and spinach ones too. As a bonus, you'll find fresh-baked bread and croissants as well as strudels large and by-the-slice, and a full selection of Aussie-fied cakes and slices.

296 Bondi Road, Bondi, 9130 5170.

Need to know

What is it

A big round flaky savoury pastry pie.

Where's it from

The Balkans via Turkey. Mediterranean versions also abound.

How to eat

Fresh and hot at shop beats soggy takeaway bag any day.

What to drink

Trad beverage is buttermilk. Or a thick, sourish drink called boza.

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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