A mixture of tangy cheeses and aromatic herbs create a vibrant filling.
Squeezing the spinach dry prevents the filling and the pie from being soggy.
Using clarified butter yields crispier boreks.
Delicate, gossamer-thin phyllo is a forgiving material to work with, once you know how to handle it.
Along with cured olives, string cheese, dried apricots, walnut halves, and cured meats like basturma (the Armenian equivalent of bresaola) and sujuk (spiced Armenian sausage), boreks are required for any Armenian mezze spread. Using clarified butter yields crispier boreks. I don’t know if that’s 100% true for every Armenian household, but I’ve yet to attend a single gathering of more than a couple of Armenians where boreks weren’t served. (My mother keeps containers of unbaked boreks in her freezer at all times, just in case.) Aromatic herbs and alliums like parsley, dill, and scallion are common additions to either style, and eggs are usually added as a binder.
