Episode 08: The Science of Börek

(C) Zafer Yenal

Zafer Yenal is a professor of sociology at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. His research centers around consumption, food, political economy, human geography, and historical sociology. Being a true scientist, Zafer publishes many works, amongst them an article about a changing food scene in Istanbul, “Culinary Work at the Crossroads in Istanbul,” which looks at a change in authenticity in culinary products and practices. But most of all, Zafer is a great storyteller, and our last episode for Season 1 brings you and us to ancient times and tells the intriguing history of Börek, where it came from, and where you can find it now. For us, Zafer is now also a professor of our hearts! Tune in!

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Angelika, Arlene and Zafer during recording “Schnitzel and Stories”

To learn more about Börek, please check these links that we used for our research:

https://balkanbites.co/pages/history-of-burek

https://www.weloveist.com/borek

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/humble-beginnings-of-culinary-masterworks-turkish-b%C3%B6rek-turkey-tourism-promotion-and-development-agency/nwVh27xBHvg56Q?hl=en

https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/the-joy-of-eating-borek/7wiqxykl9

https://www.dishesorigins.com/borek/

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/historians-cookbook/history-borek

https://andrewcoppolino.com/blog/the-burek-has-a-long-world-history/#:~:text=There%20is%20some%20history%20that,others%20pastry%2Dlike%20foods).

http://www.historyofbread.com/

https://www.takeaway.com/foodwiki/turkey/turkish-bread/#:~:text=Bread%20(ekmek)%20is%20an%20essential,and%20is%20certainly%20not%20wasted.

https://appetiteforchangemn.org/food-and-cultural-identity/

https://www.slofoodbank.org/food-as-culture/