Shawarma

Shawarma ( ; ) is a popular street food in the Middle East that originated in the Levant during the Ottoman Empire. It consists of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in an inverted cone, and roasted on a slow-turning vertical spit. Traditionally made with lamb or mutton, it may also be made with chicken, turkey meat, beef, falafel or veal. The surface of the rotisserie meat is routinely shaved off once it cooks and is ready to be served. Shawarma is a popular street food throughout the world.

Shawarma ( ; ) is a popular street food in the Middle East that originated in the Levant during the Ottoman Empire. It consists of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in an inverted cone, and roasted on a slow-turning vertical spit. Traditionally made with lamb or mutton, it may also be made with chicken, turkey meat, beef, falafel or veal. The surface of the rotisserie meat is routinely shaved off once it cooks and is ready to be served. Shawarma is a popular street food throughout the world.

Etymology

The name in Arabic is a rendering of the term in Turkish ( , ), referring to rotisserie. The name is attested in English and Arabic as early as the 19th century; Socrates Spiro's 1895 Egyptian Arabic-English dictionary translated šāwirma ( ) as "rich stew, roast meat".

History

, 1950 The technique of shawarma—grilling a vertical stack of meat slices and cutting it off as it cooks—first appeared during the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century in the form of döner kebab, which both the Greek gyros and the Levantine shawarma are derived from. The innovation of this technique is credited by Encyclopedia Britannica to a 19th-century Turkish butcher named Iskender, whose shop in Bursa offered grilled meats that were layered on the vertical spit and slowly carved off into pieces. Shawarma led to the development during the early 20th century of the contemporary Mexican dish tacos al pastor when it was brought there by Lebanese immigrants. The dish is also especially popular in Ottawa, Ontario, where a large community of the Lebanese diaspora exists. In 2024, Ottawa City Council declared Ottawa the "shawarma capital of Canada", following a motion introduced by Laura Dudas.

Preparation

Shawarma is prepared from thin cuts of seasoned and marinated lamb, mutton, veal, beef, chicken, or turkey. The slices are stacked on a skewer about high. Pieces of fat may be added to the stack to provide extra juiciness and flavour. A motorized spit slowly turns the stack of meat in front of an electric or gas-fired heating element, continuously roasting the outer layer. Shavings are cut off the rotating stack for serving, customarily with a long, flat knife. Spices may include cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric or paprika, and in some areas, baharat. Shawarma is commonly served as a sandwich or wrap, in a flatbread such as pita, shrak (saj), laffa or lavash. Some forgo the vertical spit in favor of a more traditional horizontal spit; this allows cooking over hot coals rather than electrical heaters, similar to cağ kebabı. File:Shawarma-sandwich-01.jpg|Shawarma in pita File:Shawarma, Rostov-on-Don, Russia.jpg|Shawarma on lavash in Russia. File:Mixed Shawarma (2843435528).jpg|Mixed shawarma with rice and tomatoes File:Shawarma preparation in central Aleppo, Syria.jpg|Slicing and preparation. In Aleppo, Syria. File:2019.07.09 DC Shawarma People and Places, Washington, DC USA 190 60018.jpg|Horizontally roasted shawarma being cooked over coals File:Chicken Shawarma preparation in Thiruvananthapuram 21 37 03 246000.jpeg|Chicken shawarma on a vertical rotisserie

See also

Al pastor Burrito Doner kebab Gyros Kati roll

External links

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378910563 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.