Burekas

Sephardic Jewish communities of Turkey and the Balkans — brought to Israel by immigrants from Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece; now a defining Israeli street food available at every bakery

Sephardic Jewish puff pastry or filo triangles filled with potato-cheese, spinach-cheese, or mushroom — a standard of Israeli street food and home baking that traces to the Sephardic communities of Turkey and the Balkans who brought their börek tradition to the Land of Israel in the early 20th century. Israeli burekas are baked, not fried, and the standard shape is a triangle (potato-cheese) or rectangle (spinach); the surface is brushed with egg wash and covered in sesame seeds. The pastry can be puff pastry (most Israeli commercial varieties) or thinner filo (home traditions from Turkish Sephardic families). The shape codes the filling in Israeli bakery tradition: triangle = potato, rectangle = spinach, round = mushroom.

Eaten for breakfast with a glass of tea, or as a mid-morning snack; purchased from street bakeries in Israel; pairs with tomato salad and labneh at an Israeli breakfast table; the warm-pastry-sesame-cheese combination is one of the defining Israeli street food sensory experiences