Gyros
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:Infobox food Gyros, sometimes anglicized as a gyro[1][2][3] (Template:IPAc-en; Template:Langx, Script error: No such module "IPA".), is meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, along with other ingredients such as tomato, onion, fried potatoes, and tzatziki. In Greece, it is normally made with pork[4] or sometimes with chicken, whilst ground beef and lamb are also used in other countries.[5][6]
Name
The name comes from the Greek Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration, Template:Gloss or Template:Gloss). It is a calque of the Turkish Template:Transliteration, from Template:Transliteration, also meaning Template:Gloss.[7]
In Greek, "Template:Transliteration" is a nominative singular noun, but the final 's' is often interpreted in English usage as plural,[8] leading to the singular back-formation "gyro".[9] The standard Greek and English pronunciation is Script error: No such module "IPA".. Some English speakers pronounce it Template:IPAc-en, because the word is a heteronym of the related word "gyro".[10]
In Athens and other parts of southern Greece, the skewered meat dish elsewhere called [[souvlaki|Template:Transliteration]] is known as Template:Transliteration, while Template:Transliteration is a term used generally for gyros, and similar dishes.[11] In other regions, for example in Thessaloniki, Template:Transliteration only refers to the meat on the spit, and what English speakers refer to as a "gyros wrap" is called a Template:Gloss (Script error: No such module "Lang".).[12]
Similar dishes
Gyros is made in a similar manner to other dishes such as the Arab [[shawarma|Template:Transliteration]], Canadian donair, Mexican Script error: No such module "Lang"., and the Turkish [[doner kebab|Template:Transliteration]].[13]
History
Grilling a vertical spit of stacked meat and slicing it off as it cooks was developed in Bursa[14] in the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire. After the 1922–23 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the Greeks brought their variation with them to Greece. Following World War II, gyros made with lamb (called shawarma) was present in Athens.[15][14] It was likely introduced by immigrants from Anatolia and the Middle East.[4][16] The Greek version is normally made with pork and served with tzatziki, and became known as gyros.[17][18]
By 1970, gyros wraps were already a popular fast food in Athens, as well as in Chicago and New York City.[19][20][6] At that time, although vertical rotisseries were starting to be mass-produced in the US by Gyros Inc.[19] of Chicago, the stacks of meat were still hand-made. There are several claimants to have introduced the first mass-produced gyros to the United States, all based in the Chicago area in the early 1970s, and of Greek descent. One of them, Peter Parthenis, has said that the mass-produced gyro was first conceptualized by John and Margaret Garlic; John Garlic was a Jewish car salesman who later ran a restaurant featuring live dolphins.[6]
The Halifax donair in Canada which was based on the Greek gyros was invented in the 1970s by Peter Gamoulakos. Originally from Greece, he started selling Greek gyros (a pita stuffed with grilled lamb and tzatziki) from his restaurant located off the Bedford Highway.[21]
Preparation
In Greece, gyros is normally made with pork, though other meats are used in other countries.[17] Chicken is common, and lamb or beef may be found more rarely.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Typical American mass-produced gyros are made with finely ground beef mixed with lamb.[6]
For hand-made gyros, meat is cut into approximately round, thin, flat slices, which are then stacked on a spit and seasoned. Fat trimmings are usually interspersed. Spices may include cumin, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and others.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The pieces of meat, in the shape of an inverted cone, are placed on a tall vertical rotisserie, which turns slowly in front of a source of heat or broiler. As the cone cooks, lower parts are basted with the juices running off the upper parts. The outside of the meat is sliced vertically in thin, crisp shavings when done.[17][22]
The rate of roasting can be adjusted by varying the intensity of the heat, the distance between the heat and the meat, and the speed of spit rotation, thus allowing the cook to adjust for varying rates of consumption.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
In Greece, it is customarily served in an oiled, lightly grilled piece of pita, rolled up with sliced tomatoes, chopped onions, lettuce, and fried potatoes, sometimes topped with tzatziki, or, sometimes in northern Greece, ketchup or mustard.[23][24][25]
See also
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References
External links
Template:Cuisine of Greece Template:Sandwiches Template:Street food
- ↑ Template:Cite dictionary
- ↑ Template:Cite Merriam-Webster
- ↑ "Gyro Template:Webarchive". Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. 2022.
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Babiniotis, Script error: No such module "Lang".
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- ↑ a b Kenneth F. Kiple, Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas, eds., Cambridge World History of Food, Cambridge, 2000. Template:ISBN. Vol. 2, p. 1147
- ↑ Template:Cite magazine
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Γιάκωβος Σ. Διζικιρικής, Να ξετουρκέψουμε τη γλώσσα μας 'Let Us De-Turkify our Language', Athens 1975, p. 62, proposes substituting Script error: No such module "Lang". for Script error: No such module "Lang"., but The New York Times was already using the word gyro in English in 1971 (4 Sept. 23/1) according to the OED, 1993 online edition, s.v.
- ↑ a b Template:Cite magazine
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