Bureks in Kosovo

I’m staring out the taxi window in Prishtina when I see a sign on a café window listing "burek" along with hamburger, hotdog, etc. I start to wonder whether a burek is the same thing my parents used to make when I was little, which we pronounced bure-rocks, and are similar to meat pies: plain pastry with a filling of minced meat, cabbage, maybe some carrots, and other stuff folded into a round pocket. I ask our liaison guy what the word burek means, and it turns out they are the same thing. He tells me that I can find the best bureks in town at a place not far from our hotel. I can’t wait to try a burek maybe not far from their origin.

So on Saturday I go to the burek place for lunch. I see a sign out the front saying bureketore, which in my mind would have to be the chosen land for bureks, kind of like hamburgerlandia. I step into the small café and despite an upbringing of "please wait to be seated" signs at most restaurants, I do the European thing and sit straight down at a table. The waiter comes up to me and I ask for a burek. He asks which kind meat, cheese, spinach, hamburger. Unspecified "meat" products are always to be avoided and since the ones I remember from my childhood are the minced hamburger meat ones, I ask for hamburger.

I am not sure which size the bureks are, and since I am hungry I ask the waiter what size they are, in case they are small maybe I will order two. He says normal size. I say, well, I am not sure what is normal size. Are they small, medium, or large? He stares at me dumbly. To assist with comprehension, I make a small round burek shape with my hands and ask small? He stares at me. I make a medium size round burek shape with my hands and ask medium? He stares at me. I make a very big sized round burek shape with my hands and ask large? He stares at me. I do them in succession: small, medium, big? He stares at me. I can’t help myself, so I sit there and quickly do small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big, small, medium, big…..different speeds, different sizes…he finally turns away and leaves.

Five minutes later he comes up with a plate with a hamburger and fries on it.
Agh!!!

This guy is way too dense to go into non-English sign language discussions about the differences between a "hamburger" and a "burek", so I eat my hamburger and leave. And it wasn’t even good!