Reviewed: May 1, 2012

My husband helped a coworker who is from Bosnia build a deck on his house. His wife prepared them a lunch of Berek and pickled veggies. I did some research and have tried to recreate berek and this recipe is really good. I don't know if its our American taste buds but I too thought it was a little bland. I made a spice mixture of garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, pepper and a little dried oregano. I boiled the chopped potatoes for 5 minutes and added to the browned beef and onion with the spice mixture. I used 3 phyllo sheets per berek and brushed melted butter to seal. I tried the snail shape and it broke so I just rolled into a tube and put them next to each other. They were flaky and delicious. I made a spread of sour cream, dried dill and garlic powder. I love allrecipes.com because you can find a recipe that you have never tried to make before but can tweek it and make it your on that your friends and family love. Thanks, So GOOD!

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Reviewer:

robran

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Largo, Florida, USA

Reviewed: Oct. 20, 2011

The reason this does not taste good is because it is missing a key seasoning called Vegeta. Vegeta is used in almost all Bosnian dishes. You can usually find it for a couple of bucks in any European, Greek, or Bosnian grocery stores. If you can find this and omit the allspice you will taste a huge difference. I hope this helps!!

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Reviewer:

Vernesa

Reviewed: Oct. 7, 2011

This is very authentic taste to it. I see a lot of complains about rolling the dough. I actually make my own phyllo dough as do most bosnians so when we use thr roll technique the dough is more water based. Buy you can always stack eith the store bought phyllo. My father loves it this way and since it does take a long time to dry your own homemade phyllo I just used the store phyllo and stack with layers. Also I dont use allspice, I guess i make it a little past the original by adding cumin to the recipe it really gives it a deeper taste. And I love the natural yoghurt but for those unable to get it you can always use butter milk and dip it in the buttermilk or even sour cream and just dip it like that. Also with this you can feel free to expirament with different fillings I love cheese filling, I just take some cottage cheese one egg and a little salt, some add spinach its very good.

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Reviewer:

dzejlana91

Reviewed: Sep. 24, 2011

I loved it!!!! Though the recipe says layer two sheets of phyllo, and I did, and think I will layer more next time! I love the flaky pastry. Otherwise, I wouldn't change anything!!

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Reviewer:

MJSmom

Reviewed: Apr. 3, 2011

Delicious and so similar to the burek I would get from a nearby Bosnian restaurant.

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Reviewer:

Tay

Reviewed: Mar. 30, 2011

Great!! It wasn't spicy because it's not supposed to be. Being from a Serbian background this is what it's supposed to taste like!! odlican!!

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Reviewer:

Emily M

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Living In: Milton, Ontario, Canada

Reviewed: Mar. 28, 2011

This recipe is easy but not quite the MOIST burek I love so much! I think moisture is also the key to working with phyllo dough so here are a few ideas. 1) Don't drain the beef too much - or at all! The grease helps to make the dough sheets pliable. 2) When you are not using the dough sheets cover them directly with a damp kitchen rag so they don't crack when you roll them up. 3) If the dough still isn't moist enough to work with you'll have to keep lathering on the butter as you roll it. Also I threw an egg in the beef mixture, which seemed to help. A little more grease may not make it healthier but it definitely makes it more delicious and more authentic!

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Reviewer:

gigerbopper

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Norfolk, Virginia, USA

Reviewed: Jan. 1, 2011

I do not know if this is authentic or not, but my whole family enjoyed this. I made it as directed - only I 'browned' the potatoes and onions with the beef and seasonings. I couldn't make the pinwheels work, so I cut the phyllo in half and made them more like large spring rolls. Didn't change the taste. I used sour cream seasoned with garlic, dill and Mrs. Dash (garlic seasoning) as a dipping sauce. Very tasty and easy to make.

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Reviewer:

nhahno

Reviewed: Jul. 29, 2010

Really delicious! I forgot to make it into a snail shape, instead I just put all of the long tubes next to each other on the baking pan. Used cumin instead of allspice to make it a bit more similiar to Central Asian pastries I've had. Some of the tubes opened up during cooking cuz I didn't seal them well enough, but it didn't affect taste. Served w/plain yogurt and sriracha sauce, YUM! Definitely will make again. My 4 guys all loved it!

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