Passport & Plate - Gabak Böregi
Cyprus | Wednesday, March 12, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
~Ga b a k B ö r e g i ~ K o l o k o p i t t a ~
P u m p k i n P a s t r i e s
Dough
• 6 cups plain white flour
• 2 cups wholewheat flour
• 1 tsp dry instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 cup yogurt
• ¼ cup light olive oil
• warm water, as required
Filling (see photo)
• 1 kg red pumpkin washed, peeled and roughly grated or chopped into very small cubes
• ½ cup fine bulgur (burghul)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• I cup sultanas
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped maraho (thin green leaves of wild fennel.)
NOTE: This herb may not always be found, and thinly sliced fresh mint leaves can be used as a replacement. To find maraho, one must usually forage in parks or fields. Some immigrant populations in Australia continue the culture of foraging for foodstuffs not sold in supermarkets- particularly certain mushrooms. Maraho is a very healthy herb, and perfectly explained here: http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2011/01/wild-fennel-foraged-food.html
How to prepare this recipeThis is a traditional Cypriot pumpkin pastry recipe. Neither quite sweet nor savoury, it makes a perfect snack with a cup of tea, any time of day. This pastry is shared between the Turkish and Greek communities in Cyprus, with regional variations. We have brought the recipe with us to Australia since emigrating from Cyprus when I was 6 years old.
Preparation
1. Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl. Mix well & allow to rest for several hours (the bulgur soaks the juices from the pumpkin in this time). (NOTE: Check the photo- we had the men hard at work on pumpkin duty. The pumpkin was from the garden, and was *very* large (keep reading to find out what happened with our *5 kilo* pumpkin).
2. For the dough, place flour in a large bowl with salt, sugar, dry yeast & mix well to evenly combine. Mix in yogurt and olive oil, then gradually add warm water. Knead until the dough is smooth & not too sticky. Cover with a clean cloth & rest for an hour. Mum tells me that my grandmother used to say: If you don’t let it rest, it gets angry (see photo for happy dough).
3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
4. Break off small pieces of dough & roll out with a pin on a lightly floured surface (add more flour if they are too sticky, but not too much). They should be around 10cm in diameter & a few millimetres thick. (See photos. Mum was doing this. Love her hands)
Fill half of the pastry with the pumpkin mixture, fold over, press lightly on the edges and curl up. It is best to do these as you go, so the pastry does not sit too long after being rolled, as it could dry (See photos. This is me)
5. Place onto tray lined with baking paper and bake
uncovered for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
Can be eaten warm or cool.
6. Afiyet olsun! (Turkish version of bon apetit-
directly translated as a wish that the meal
serves the eater well- a phrase of goodwill from the chef!).
PS- Make sure you argue & bicker with your friend about ingredients and method. But do it with love =)
The story behind this recipeThe idea is to cook together, and to cook with love.
This recipe was passed down from my grandmother, whose cooking was renowned across her village. Gabak böregi is very special: cooking and indulging in it is a way to transport back to Cyprus & allow our culture to flourish in its new Melbourne setting.
We try to do this a few times a year: a refreshing contrast to mass produced & processed food, but also a very laborious exercise. It takes at least a few hours- depending on how much is made. Such days my dad laughs: Our lives revolve around food- preparing, eating and cleaning after it!!!
On this occasion, our family friend, Nilgün abla (I call her ‘abla’ which means sister- a sign of respect) came to help. This is quite typical for some Cypriot dishes; village women convening to help, chat, gossip, share the fruits of their labour. With Cypriot music playing, we plunged into the preparation- cooking and sampling as we went.
One photo captures the moment when my mum and Nilgün abla noticed that we had, without realising, turned the 5-kilo pumpkin into a ridiculous amount of the pastries- enough to start a small bakery. It is not just about food; their laughter comes to mind. My mother is wearing a yemeni- a traditional headscarf used when cooking to keep hair out of the face, and food. The pastries have been laid out luxuriously across a sele- a traditional handmade flat basket. Everything is tradition.
There is also my small triumph- the fact that my mother reluctantly admitted that I close and curl the pastries better than she does (see photo). She is quite the perfectionist, you see, never allows short cuts and all food must be made with excellence. I like to think my grandmother would have been proud.
My hope is that one day the divided Turkish and Greek Cypriots can cook together, and cook with love- remembering how to share the beautiful things our common culture helps us create - to make, feast upon and celebrate the gabak böregi, the kolokopitta.
