| Re: .1
> I thought that shawarma was pork wrapped around a spit, cooked and then
> slivered off.
Shawarma is a Middle Eastern dish. As we know it here in Israel is
of Arab origin. (I cannot pinpoint if it is turkish or just Arab).
Knowing the detary customs of moslems, it is unlikely that a
Middle Eastern dish would be made of pork, forbiden by Moslem and
Jewish traditions alike.
(Perhaps pork was not the best staple in the heat and local condi-
tions here).
Anyway, even though Shawarma here is also made with turkey, the
most traditional one is made of lamb. The way they do it here is
roughly like this:
Take a sword over a fire, or just a rotating grill, put layer upon
layer of lamb meat, until you reach some 60 cm high and 45 cm diameter.
Lamb is seasoned with "shawarma spices" (?) and salt. The axis of the
grill goes in a verical fashion. On top of it, the top 3-5 cm are
the lambs fat. On the side, the fire. The heat cooks the Shawarma,
while the fat drips on the meat, basking it.
Serving: When the outer layer is cooked - sometimes even "crispy",
you "shave" the shawarma with a very sharp knife, cuting thisn slices.
The shawarma is served in (iside of) pita bread, seasonned with Tahine,
Anba pickles and salad, or on a plate, with the same seasonings and
side dishes (this seems to be the most correct way of serving it, the
pita version is the oriental "junk food" here).
I couldn't get the "formula" for the shawarma spices - yet.
Regards,
Juan-Carlos
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| Shawarma (Doner in Turkish) is back home one of the most common fast
foods. To give you the idea, imagine the number of pizza and sub shops
around here, then double that number. In every block, there is a little
joint that makes this delicious kebob. It is also served at kebob and meat
restaurants. The way previous note described is how the restaurants
prepare it.
However, for families with less than 50 people to feed, and not all the
kitchen gear to grill the meat on, there is a simpler solution. It is
a very common method of making it at home:
Take equal amounts of ground beef, and sirloin steak or some kind of
steak that is tender, good quality. Mix the ground beef with salt,
pepper, and very thinly chopped onions (not grated). If you have time,
also marinate the steak in a little lemon juice, olive oil, salt,
pepper, oregano, some mint, and yes, milk.
Then interchangibly put a layer of the steak, pat some ground beef
mixture on top, and repeat until all the meat is finished. Make sure
that the meat is not loose, so as you go along, pat it tight. Then put
this in aluminum foil, and freeze.
The rest is piece of cake. Whenever you want some, take it out of the
freezer, slice it vertically into thin slices. You can use a slicer
machine if you have one. Heat a non-stick pan, put little oil, and cook it
until done on both sides, which is a few minutes.
I prefer to wait until the original chunk of meat fereezes, then slice it
all at once, put serving size amounts of it in plastic bags, then put
them back in the freezer. Then every time I feel like some, the little
bag comes out of the freezer, and the meat into the pan.
You can put it in pita bread, or serve over slices of thick pita bread
that is heated in the oven. If you'll do that, brush the bread with a
little oil before putting in the oven. If you want sauce, in Turkey they
serve it over the pita bread, topped with Tomatoe sauce and plain-fresh
yogurt on the side.
For tomatoe sauce, slice some juicy tomatoes, add it to a little
tomatoe paste, little water, and olive oil. Add salt, pepper, cumin, and
cook. If you do not worry about cholesterol, you can also add some butter to
that as well.
Ps. Even though Shawarma/Doner/Gyros is becoming more known in the
states, I still could not find a place that serves one which tastes as
good as the ones I have when I go back to Turkey. It is probably
because of the local spices, as well as the type of meat used.
Yasemin
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Ps. Even though Shawarma/Doner/Gyros is becoming more known in the
states, I still could not find a place that serves one which tastes as
good as the ones I have when I go back to Turkey. It is probably
because of the local spices, as well as the type of meat used.
This cuisine, middle eastern in general, has been Very Popular in
Montreal for at least 15 years, if not longer. One of my favourite
quick foods downtown as a matter of fact, when I was a student. Here
in Ottawa, it is only now becoming more popular, and I miss it.
Great stuff.
Monica
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The following is quoted from Claudia Roden's _A New Book of Middle Eastern
Food_ (Penguin 1986, ISBN 0 14 046.588x)
"In Turkey, doner* kebab is a great favourite. Slices of tender lamb 3 cm (1")
thick and 10-12 cm (4-5") wide, marinated for several hours in a mixture of
oil, salt, peper and onion juice with parsley, rigani (Greek wild marjoram -
may substitute oregano or thyme) and sometimes mint are threaded and packed
tightly, with a few pieces of fat squeezed between them, on to a rotating
vertical spit...
"Leg of lamb is ideal for spit roasting. Marinate it for 2 hours in any of the
marinades given below for shish kebab. Then set it over a charcoal fire which
has stopped smoking...
...
Marinade I
150 ml (1/4 pint) olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
2 onions, chopped and crushed to extract juices
2 bay leaves cut into small pieces
2 tsp dried rigani
(pulp of 2 tomatoes, sieved - optional)
salt and black pepper
Marinade II
150 ml (1/4 pint) olive oil
juice of 2 onions
1 tsp ground cinnamon
salt and black pepper
Marinade III
300 ml (1/2 pint) yoghourt
juice of 1 onion
salt and black pepper "
(On this last one, she suggests that shish kebab marinated in this
could be served with a sprinkling of ground cinnamon)
(my footnote - not part of the quote)
*doner is actually spelled with an umlaut on the o. The word means something
like "rotating" - as does the Arab word Shawarma and the Greek word Gyros.
(We learned an awful lot about Turkish food when I was studying Turkish a few
years ago. My teacher's grandmother, who was the cook when he was growing up,
was apparently less than inspired in the kitchen, and his experience of the
cuisine when he went to Turkey to study was something of a revelation. You
could also tell by looking at him that he had become a serious cook. By the
way, his Circassian Chicken was devine - no shortcuts taken in the preparation)
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