Börek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries

Pastry

Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...

 made of a thin flaky dough

Dough

Dough is a paste made out of any cereals or leguminous crops by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid. This process is a precursor to making a wide variety of foodstuffs, particularly breads and bread-based items , flatbreads, noodles, pastry, and similar items)...

 known as yufka

Yufka

Yufka is a Turkish bread. It is a thin, round and unleavened flat bread similar to lavash, about 18 inches in diameter usually made from wheat flour, water and table salt. After kneading, the dough is allowed to rest for 30 min. Dough pieces are rounded and rolled into a circular sheet...

 (or phyllo

Phyllo

Phyllo, filo, or fillo dough is paper-thin sheets of unleavened flour dough used for making pastries in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisine.-History:An early, thick form of phyllo appears to be of Central Asian Turkic origin...

). It can be filled with cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

, often feta

Feta

Feta is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece. Feta is an aged crumbly cheese, commonly produced in blocks, and has a slightly grainy texture. It is used as a table cheese, as well as in salads Feta is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece. Feta is an aged crumbly cheese,...

, sirene

Sirene

Sirene/ Sirenje or known as "white brine sirene" .Salads: Shopska salad with tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, onions and sirene. Ovcharska salad with the above mentioned vegetables, cheese, ham, boiled eggs and olives. Tomatoes with sirene is a traditional light salad during the summer.Eggs:...

 or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables. Most probably invented in what is now Modern Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, in the Anatolian Provinces

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

 of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 in its early era, to become a popular element of Ottoman cuisine

Ottoman cuisine

Ottoman cuisine is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its successors in Anatolia, the Balkans, and much of the Middle East.- Description :...

.

A börek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries.