Boyoz

Boyoz
TypePastry
Place of originTurkey
Region or stateİzmir
Created bySephardic Jewish
Main ingredientsFlour, sunflower oil, tahini
  •  Wikimedia Commons logo Media: Boyoz

Boyoz (or boyo) is a pastry of Sephardic Jewish origin[1][2] associated with İzmir, Turkey, where it is regarded as a characteristic local speciality.[3][4] Widely identified with the city's culinary culture,[5] it is commercially produced in İzmir and is officially registered as İzmir Boyozu as a geographical indication limited to the province of İzmir.[6] Traditional descriptions of boyoz emphasize a simple layered dough; plain versions are common, although filled varieties are also documented.[5][3]

Boyoz paste is a mixture of flour, sunflower oil, and a small amount of tahini. Originally, the recipe utilized sesame oil.[3] It is kneaded by hand, and the ball of paste is left to rest for two hours. The paste is then flattened to the width of a dish and left to rest again. It is then kneaded and opened once more, before being formed into a roll and left to repose as such for a further period of several hours. When the tissue of the paste is still soft but about to detach into pieces, it is cut into small balls and put in rows of small pans and marinated in vegetable oil between half an hour and one hour. The paste then takes an oval form and acquires the consistency of a millefeuille. The small balls can then be put on a tray in a very high-temperature oven either in plain form or with fillings of cheese or spinach added inside.

The usual accompaniments for boyoz are dark tea and hard-boiled eggs generously sprinkled with black pepper. Boyoz is generally consumed outdoors, and purchased from street vendors. In İzmir, boyoz is also sold at traditional "gevrekçi" street stalls — small breakfast kiosks that serve freshly baked pastries in the morning.[7] The İzmir Boyoz Festival is an annual public event held in celebration of the pastry as part of the city's cultural identity.[8][9]

Origin

The word boyoz is the plural of the Ladino word boyo, cognate with the Spanish word bollo, meaning "a small and round pastry, a bun", itself derived from the Latin bulla, meaning "a round object, a bubble, or a ball."[10]

Many sources associate boyoz with the Sephardic Jewish heritage of İzmir.[6][11][2] Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 and settled in various parts of the Ottoman Empire.[12][13] İzmir later emerged as an important Sephardic center,[14] and its Jewish community brought their boyoz tradition to the city, where it became part of street food culture.[5][8][15][16] İzmir boyozu is officially recognized as a historic local pastry produced in the city since the Ottoman period.[6] Related Sephardic pastries known as boyos are also documented in Judeo-Spanish food traditions, often with cheese or spinach fillings.[17]

See also

Citations

  1. ^ Marks, Gil (2010-11-17). Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. HMH. ISBN 978-0-544-18631-6.
  2. ^ a b Goldstein-Sabbah, Sasha; Farias Garcia, Lucia; Heijman, Maxime; Whitcombe, William; Gordon, Michel (2023). Goldstein, Sasha (ed.). "Life & Legacy: A Window into Jewish Life Across the Islamic World". Visions of the Middle East and North Africa (1). University of Groningen Press: 102. doi:10.21827/6458c72616bed. ISBN 978-94-034-3020-1.
  3. ^ a b c "Traditional Boyoz". Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  4. ^ "Exploring Turkey's Jewish Delights". Hadassah Magazine. Hadassah Magazine. 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  5. ^ a b c "Boyoz: Izmir's flaky pastry of Sephardic origin". Daily Sabah. Daily Sabah. 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  6. ^ a b c "No: 268 – Mahreç İşareti: İzmir Boyozu" (PDF). Türk Patent ve Marka Kurumu (in Turkish). Türk Patent ve Marka Kurumu. 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  7. ^ "İzmir sokak lezzetleri durakları: Şehrin meşhur tatları". Egeli Gazete (in Turkish). Retrieved 2025-11-02.
  8. ^ a b "İzmir Boyozu | KÜRE Encyclopedia". kureansiklopedi.com. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  9. ^ "İzmir BOYOZ Festivali'nde izdiham". Şalom Gazetesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  10. ^ "boyoz". Nişanyan Sözlük (in Turkish). Retrieved 2026-04-03.
  11. ^ "The Jews of Ottoman Izmir". Stanford University Press. Stanford University Press. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  12. ^ "Judaism: Marginalization and expulsion". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  13. ^ "Sephardi". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  14. ^ "The Jews of Ottoman Izmir: Excerpt from Introduction". Stanford University Press. Stanford University Press. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  15. ^ Sabah, Daily (2016-12-24). "Boyoz: A Sephardic Jewish pastry from Turkey's west". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  16. ^ "İzmir's Judeo-Spanish pastry boyoz to open up beyond borders". Hürriyet Daily News. 2016-11-15. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  17. ^ "Spinach and Feta Boyos". Jewish Food Society. Jewish Food Society. 2024-01-08. Retrieved 2026-03-13.

General and cited sources

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