Souvlaki
Souvlaki (Greek: Σουβλάκι) is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat grilled on a skewer. It may be served on the skewer for eating out of hand, in a pita sandwich with garnishes and sauces, or on a dinner plate, often with chips or pilaf. The meat is traditionally pork in Greece and Cyprus, or in modern times increasingly chicken. In other countries and for tourists, souvlaki may be made with other meats such as veal, lamb and sometimes fish (especially swordfish).
The word souvlaki is a diminutive of souvla (skewer), itself ultimately derived from the Latin subula (awl).
History
One story says that souvlaki originated from late 1940s to 1950s in Piraeus from a cook who had arrived from Constantinople[1]
In the 1950s-1960s souvlakia were eaten off natural (unprocessed) wooden reed sticks
Souvlaki-merida
Merida means portion. While souvlaki/kalamaki is eaten plain on hand as a fast food, it is also served as a full plate, served with rice, salad, sauce, and pita bread. Usually it consists of the ingredients of a souvlaki-pita (see below), but laid out on a plate, instead of wrapped together for take-out.
Pita
Pita is a form of unleavened flat round bread with a diameter of approximately 15 cm, used to wrap souvlaki or gyros. It comes pre-baked and will additionally be grilled on the meat drippings just before serving, unless the customer requires that it be not.
Souvlaki-pita
This course consists of souvlaki meat garnished with chips, tomatoes and onions, sauced with tzatziki, and wrapped in a lightly grilled pita. When chicken is used instead of pork meat, tzatziki and onions are replaced with a special sauce and lettuce to be compatible with its taste; Various other garnishes and sauces are possible, including shredded lettuce, paprika, fried potatoes, ketchup and mustard, though these are considered heretical by purists. It is also called pita-kalamaki. Any of these components may not be included, at the request of the customer. Hungry customers may occasionally request a two-pita wrapping (diplopito) and/or a double meat serving (dikalamo).
In Thessaloniki any pita-wrapped souvlaki is referred to as a "sandwich", with its desired ingredients (meat and its method of preparation, plus each and every condiment) meticulously listed by the customer each time.
Gyros-pita
Similar to souvlaki pita. The souvlaki is replaced by gyros (kebab usually made of pork or chicken). This is also nicknamed souvlaki in common speech due to its resemblance to the above, and because gyros meat is rotated on a mechanical skewer; despite this, it is never ordered as souvlaki to the waiter or server, to avoid confusion.
External links
- Souvlaki: The Hamburger of Greece A site describing the various forms of souvlaki, and explaining the variations of its terminology for tourists.
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