Today I found the local bakery and bought a slice of Hungarian burek. I felt compelled to try it because I’ve eaten burek in all the other Balkan countries I’ve lived in this year.
Hungarian burek looks very similar to the burek you get in Serbia and North Macedonia. It’s baked in a round tin and cut into triangular portions and, like the burek in aforementioned countries, it’s a pretty big slice of pie.
However, although it looks the same as the pie you get in Serbia and North Macedonia there is one important difference—Hungarian burek has more filling inside. For that reason, I would have to say I like Hungarian burek better than the burek I’ve eaten in the other two countries. It has a lot more flavour.
Despite the fact that Hungarian burek has a more generous amount of filling inside, I personally prefer Albanian byrek. There’s not so much pastry involved with a slice of byrek. It’s still very filling but I don’t have too much difficulty eating a slice of Albanian byrek. I find it a struggle to eat a full portion of Hungarian burek. There’s more pastry than I can handle but it’s good value for money. After eating a slice of burek you’re not going to be bothered by feelings of hunger for quite some time.
As for the price, in Szeged it costs around 470 HUF per slice. That’s about €1.44. Even a stingy Yorkshireman like me can’t grumble about that.
If you are hoping to try burek in Hungary, or any of the other Balkan countries, be aware it’s quite a greasy type of pie. There’s bound to be a lot of calories in there as well. So, if you are trying to lose weight, it’s not going to be a good idea to eat burek too often.