Phyllo

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"filo" redirects here. filo is also an synonym for LIFO.

Phyllo, filo or fillo dough (Greek φύλλο 'leaf') consists of thin sheets of unleavened flour dough. They are layered with butter and baked to make flaky pies and pastries, the most famous of which are probably baklava and tiropita. The layers of phyllo dough can be as thin as paper or a millimeter or so thick. Phyllo is used in many of the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, often under the Turkish name yufka. Dishes made with phyllo are often called börek.

In Turkish cuisine these pastries are called börek, in Albanian cuisine they are called byrek, in Austrian-German-Hungarian cuisine the dough is called blätterteig and pastries made from phyllo are called strudel. In Bosnia, the word burek is only used for the pastries with meat and other kinds are called pita. In Serbian language phyllo is called kore (plural) while pastries have various names, depending on mode of preparation. In Bulgaria it is called kori za banitsa (pl.) and the generic name for the pastries is banitsa, though there are sometimes special names for the specific kinds.

An early, thick form of phyllo appears to be of central Asian Turkic origin. As early as the 11th century, a dictionary of Turkish dialects (Diwan Lughat al-Turk) recorded pleated/folded bread as one meaning of the word yuvgha, which is related to the word (yufka) which means a single sheet of phyllo in modern Turkish. The idea of making the sheets paper thin is a later development, probably developed in the kitchens of the Topkapi palace.^[1]

Homemade phyllo takes time and skill. It requires progressive rolling and spreading out the dough to a single, thin and very big sheet, with continual flouring of its surface, which tends to break apart. A very big table and a long roller are used. Once finished, the phyllo is floured, folded and used per the recipe. Nowadays this is done industrially to make the product bought at the frozen section in supermarkets. Most food-oriented phyllo is made with wheat flour and water, but some dessert recipes call for egg yolks in addition.

Pastries with phyllo could be made in a variety of ways: phyllo could be layered in different heights, rolled or ruffled, and each of variations could be prepared with various fillings (or even without filling). Some common varieties are:

with apples: apfelstrudel
with cheese: called Peynirli börek in Turkey, burekas in Israel, Tiropita in Greece, Gibanica in Serbia, standard Banitsa in Bulgaria
with cherries
with chicken: called Tavuklu börek in Turkish cuisine, kotopita in Greek cuisine
with greens: called hortopita in Greek cuisine (prasopita when filled with leeks)
with meat: called kıymalı börek or Talas böregi in Turkish cuisine, Kreatopita in Greek cuisine, burek in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and elsewhere
with nuts and syrup: baklava, kataifi made from shredded fillo
with potatoes: called patatopita in Greek cuisine
with powdered sugar on top: called Sekerli börek in Turkish cuisine
with spinach and feta cheese: called ispanakli börek in Turkish cuisine, Spanakopita in Greek cuisine
with boiled dough: su böregi
with a custard or cheese filling: Greek bougatsa, Turkish boğaça.