Shawarma country of origin. All about shawarma: origin, what meat and sauces are used to prepare it. Homemade shawarma with chicken

Description

Shawarma, which is also called shawarma, shuarma or doner kebab in different countries, is a Middle Eastern dish (most likely of Turkish origin) of pita or pita stuffed with minced fried meat with the addition of sauces, various spices and fresh vegetable salad.

Almost any meat is suitable for preparing this quick dish: lamb, pork, beef, turkey or chicken fillet are placed in it. Although in some countries, according to national culinary traditions, a certain type of meat is added to shawarma: for example, in Libya, Turkey and other Muslim states - lamb or camel meat, and in Israel - turkey or chicken.

Meat for shawarma is fried on special equipment and according to a special technology. Meat tenderloin, previously marinated in a special sauce, is strung on a vertical rotating skewer, along which flameless gas burners are located. In the process of frying, thin pieces are cut from the meat with a long knife, which form the basis of the shawarma filling.

Doner kebab is a varied dish: only in Ukraine and Russia there are a couple of dozen recipes for its preparation. Instead of pita bread, some people use thin pita bread, and fresh vegetables for shawarma can be selected based on personal gastronomic preferences. So, Korean carrots and cabbage are often added in winter, and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers are used in summer. As for spices, there are never too many of them in shawarma. It is seasoned with red and black pepper, turmeric, zira - it is believed that the taste of this dish should be fiery sharp. In addition to spices, shawarma is also rich in herbs: according to the recipe, it should contain a lot of parsley, dill and cilantro, and some add garlic and green onions.

Real shawarma should not contain either mayonnaise or ketchup - the idea to use these ingredients in the recipe came to the mind of entrepreneurial local merchants who decided to save on more expensive raw materials. Doner kebab should be filled with sour cream or kefir sauce with herbs and garlic.

In Ukraine, they also offer a vegetarian version of shawarma. And some even manage to cook this dish with canned fish or semi-finished meat products (wieners, sausages, etc.).

Doner kebab is served mainly in pita or pita bread, but there is also a “plate” version of this food: the meat and vegetable filling is laid out on a plate and served with bread or warmed flatbread.

Composition and useful properties of shawarma

Modern nutritionists have "pasted" the label of fast food to shawarma, and there is one "but" in this matter. Doner kebab, properly prepared at home, is quite normal, and not at all unhealthy food. It should be made exclusively from healthy products. So, from meat, preference should be given to veal, chicken or turkey - after all, these are its most dietary types. There is almost no cholesterol in their meat, but it is rich in proteins, vitamins A, E, group B and many minerals (iron, potassium, iodine, manganese, phosphorus, etc.).

In the “correct” shawarma, high-calorie and harmful mayonnaise should be replaced with kefir or sour cream sauce with garlic, and ketchup with freshly prepared tomato paste. The composition of this dish also includes fresh vegetables, many of which have antioxidant properties, and contain a large amount of vitamins and other substances beneficial to the body. The spices used in doner kebabs are natural antibiotics, but it's important not to overdo them. And if you add more fresh herbs to the dish, then it will turn out to be a very nutritious and healthy product that will strengthen the immune system and replenish the body with protein and the missing trace elements and vitamins.

Harm

The threat to health for each person is shawarma, purchased on the street in a stall. Scientists have found that one serving of this dish is equivalent to drinking a glass of melted cooking oil. But obesity is far from the only unpleasant consequence of fast food: on a par with it are diabetes, various heart and liver diseases, infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, indigestion, and simply indigestion. Scientists have also established a link between regular consumption of fast food (including shawarma) and the occurrence of depression, Alzheimer's disease and even schizophrenia.

There are restrictions on the use of homemade shawarma. It is not recommended for those who are concerned about any problems with the gastrointestinal tract and a tendency to obesity. Due to the large amount of spices and garlic, shawarma is contraindicated for people with a diseased liver, nursing mothers and children.

Today, the pace of our lives is gaining momentum, and few people can afford the luxury of a full meal on a strict schedule. Many of us know what snacking on the go is, which is a necessary measure. In this case, it is important to choose not only tasty, but also healthy products that will give strength and provide energy. If earlier it was mainly pies with cabbage and potatoes, today they are being replaced by Turkish snacks. This is shawarma and shawarma. What is the difference between these two dishes, we want to find out today.

Confluence of cultures

Crispy flatbreads with amazing vegetables and juicy meat have long been loved by our compatriots. This is not surprising, since there has never been anything like it on the market before. At first, shawarma began to conquer the capital's markets, but soon spread throughout the territory of the former Soviet Union. Moreover, this process proceeded in a rather curious way. On the same street, small cafes or eateries could open, offering to try a novelty, a juicy filling wrapped in a delicious flatbread. However, the names of this dish could differ, the most common were such as shawarma and shawarma. What is the difference between them and is there any at all, we will talk with you now.

Hundreds of names - one essence

Eastern countries are similar to each other, culinary traditions are close, so there are many varieties of dishes that practically do not differ from each other in their composition and cooking method. However, they have been called for a long time in their own way. Shawarma and shawarma - what is the difference, even the Turk himself will answer with great difficulty. And besides this, in some establishments they may offer to try shawarma and shuarma, kurma or shaferma, donar or doner. These are all variations of the Middle Eastern pita or pita dish. The stuffing is fried, minced meat, to which sauces, spices and fresh vegetables are added.

However, so far we have only talked about the differences in the origin of shawarma and shawarma dishes. What is the difference between them, we have yet to find out. However, a curious fact is that in different regions of Russia this delicious cake with filling is called in its own way. Differences in dialects in our vast country are doing their job. In Moscow, shawarma is most often used, in St. Petersburg shawarma. And in Tver they often say shavarma. At the same time, the taste qualities can be exactly the same, but they are perceived in completely different ways.

Penetration of culinary traditions

In our country, the traditional oriental dish has gained great popularity. No matter how nutritionists talk about the benefits of healthy food, few people can walk past a diner that smells temptingly of fried meat. Competition or simply a difference in tastes has led manufacturers to prepare several varieties of this dish. At the same time, the difference between shawarma and shawarma lies in the shell. Everyone has different tastes, so it is difficult to say which one is more attractive to the consumer. Most often it is a thin cake, or pita bread, and with a filling it is called shawarma. However, in Asia, pita is often used, that is, hollow bread, which is stuffed with familiar ingredients. In this case, a shawarma is obtained. However, in other regions, it has received almost no distribution. Therefore, if you are wondering what is the difference between shawarma and shawarma, then you can mention the thickness and taste of the cake itself. By the way, made at home, it will definitely be unique, which means that each housewife will have her own final dish.

Marketing ploy

In every major city, competition between fast food companies is very high. Therefore, you have to constantly come up with bright names and promotions in order to attract the end consumer. And one of the easiest moves is to come up with a new name for an old dish, with a slight change in its ingredients.

So, when the first fashion for shawarma died down and the number of consumers decreased, we had to urgently look for an alternative to offer the market. Of course, one was immediately found. Countless stalls have popped up on the streets offering doner kebabs or doner kebabs. The essence of this has not changed, but fueled the interest of the buyer.

And there is another interesting move. Some entrepreneurs have come up with an interesting trick to promote their product. In order to make the network of shawarma outlets more visible, they use an inverted McDonald's logo. Say, it is very similar to the inverted letter Sh and means that you can buy shawarma here.

Filling

Let's try to find out from the chefs what they prefer to stuff the cake with and how this changes the taste of the final dish. Based on this, we can also conclude whether there is a difference between shawarma and shawarma. In fact, each city and different chefs have their own views on the final taste of the dish. Sauces, ingredients and meats can all be very different. Therefore, there are more than enough varieties.

Let's look at the composition of the classic shawarma. Chicken, lettuce, onion and sauce - nothing complicated. We pack it in pita bread, and the dish is ready. But not everyone sticks to the traditional recipe. A very popular option with cabbage. In this case, the envelope is wrapped in a square shape, the sauce is made without spiciness, and shawarma is obtained. Shawarma, on the other hand, should be more elongated, in crispy pita bread, juicy and very tasty. To do this, add tomatoes and cucumbers, sauce and onions. Moreover, the sauce can be both red and white, garlic.

To the taste of the buyer

Each region has its own culinary traditions. Someone adds sautéed vegetables, potatoes, cabbage or Korean carrots to the recipe. Moreover, the ingredients can be added to the taste of the buyer, offering him a choice. Do the same with sauces. White and red, they can be replaced or mixed with each other. But the main thing is to evaluate the sanitary situation at the point of sale where this dish is prepared and sold. If you have the slightest doubt that the chefs use quality products or cleanliness, then it is better to look for another manufacturer for yourself.

Instead of a conclusion

Today we talked about what shawarma and shawarma are. What is the difference (photos of finished dishes can be seen in our article), now it has become clear. This may be the thickness of the cake itself, the ingredients used for the filling, or simply the manufacturer's preference. There are no strict limits here.

Shawarma is one of the most popular Middle Eastern dishes that is popular almost everywhere. Chopped juicy meat, pre-grilled and wrapped in soft pita bread, along with vegetable salad and sauce, is a real delicacy of Arabic cuisine. Since shawarma is fast food, many people are afraid to buy it on the street or in eateries. However, such precautions do not interfere. However, if you find yourself in an Arabic restaurant, be sure to order a real lamb, beef, veal, chicken or turkey shawarma - you will not regret it! And even better - homemade shawarma, the recipe with a photo of which looks so appetizing that you can eat it every day. Let's try to make this dish, please your loved ones with homemade fast food and dive into oriental cuisine, where there are so many spices and fragrant herbs...

Shawarma: origin story

They say that the very first version was invented by steppe nomads, who wrapped saiga meat roasted at the stake in a flat cake. And in Europe, this appetizer appeared in the 70s of the last century, when the Turkish chef Kadyr Nurman decided to introduce the inhabitants of Berlin to oriental cuisine and began to wrap fried meat in pita bread, successfully selling this unusual sandwich to the ever-hurrying citizens. Thus, the Turkish kebab (the so-called shawarma in Turkey) was liked by the inhabitants of Berlin, and by the end of the 20th century, vertical skewers with rotating meat could be seen in the capitals of many European countries. Oriental cooks mixed the meat with raw vegetables and sauce, then wrapped it in flat cakes. Shawarma became popular with Europeans, as this dish was quickly cooked, hearty and tasty.

How to cook meat for shawarma

In oriental cuisine, any meat other than pork is used for this snack, but in non-Muslim countries, shawarma is prepared from any moderately fatty meat, including pork. The meat is strung on vertical skewers that rotate around its axis - they are called a vertical grill. When ready, the meat is cut with a sharp knife into very thin pieces, then they are additionally crushed.

The meat fillet is cut into pieces, lightly beaten, immersed in the marinade and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours, and preferably for 5-8 hours, depending on the stiffness of the meat. The marinade can also be made from kefir, pomegranate juice, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar or wine - whatever you like, just add more spices.

After the marinade, the meat is lightly dried with a towel, cut into thin strips and fried on the grill, in the oven or in a cast-iron pan with a ribbed bottom, without adding oil and with constant stirring. The meat turns out to be ruddy and crispy, but inside it remains juicy and soft if it is not overdried during frying. Interestingly, many people use sausages and wieners instead of meat, and some cooks fry meat with onions and stew it in broth with a small amount of vinegar added.

The ideal flatbread for shawarma is thin pita bread or half an Arabian pita. The most important thing is that the cake is fresh and soft, otherwise the dish will not turn out very tasty, besides, dried pita bread or pita bread crumbles when rolled up, and cracks appear on them. You can roll shawarma only with very fresh pita bread.

Vegetable filling can be different - thinly chopped white or Chinese cabbage with mayonnaise or ketchup, cabbage with Korean carrots, lettuce, onions, fresh or pickled cucumbers or tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini. Cucumbers are usually cut into cubes or sticks, and onions - into half rings or small cubes. Do not spare the greens - green onions, dill, cilantro, parsley and basil, because the more herbs, the tastier the shawarma. The filling with fresh or pickled mushrooms, bell peppers, hard or soft cheese is very pleasant, although many fans of Arabic cuisine do not recognize any other ingredients other than meat and spices. Well, tastes differ!

Shawarma sauce preparation

The sauce not only saturates the shawarma with new flavors, but also makes it more juicy. As a basis for the sauce, you can take sour cream, mayonnaise, cream, milk, fermented baked milk, kefir, yogurt, vegetable oil, tomato sauce and ketchup. The base is usually supplemented with other products - spices, cheese, vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs and herbs.

The simplest options for sauces that do not need to be prepared are mayonnaise and ketchup, but if you want to make a truly delicious shawarma, use only homemade sauces. The difference is immediately felt! The most popular sauces are white garlic and spicy tomato. Garlic sauce is made from medium-thick sour cream mixed with minced garlic, chopped green onions and grated pickles.

For tomato sauce, tomato puree, tomato paste, spicy adjika, cilantro, olive oil and lemon juice are mixed, after which the mass is thoroughly crushed in a blender. Other sauces are also very tasty - cheese, creamy, mushroom, cucumber and mustard. However, Eastern chefs claim that real shawarma sauce is prepared from sour cream, kefir and homemade mayonnaise, taken in equal proportions - a few chopped garlic cloves, salt, black and red ground pepper, coriander, curry, cilantro, parsley and dill are added to the mass . When the sauce has stood for an hour, it can be used.

How to roll pita bread

After the ingredients are ready, the pita bread is laid out on the table, sprinkled lightly with water mixed with lemon juice. Next, the surface of the cake is smeared with white sauce, while, of course, you need to step back a little from the edges, then vegetable salad and meat are laid out on the pita bread, and red sauce is poured on top of the filling. This is how shawarma is made in a cafe, but you can use any sauces according to your tastes and preferences.

Vegetables are covered with the edges of the cake in the form of an envelope and rolled up into a roll - this is necessary so that the filling does not fall out of the shawarma, and tasting it in this form is more comfortable and tasty. Pita is usually hollow inside, so you need to make an incision on the side and fill the pocket with stuffing and sauce. If you fry the finished shawarma a little in a pan without oil before serving, it will turn out tastier and more appetizing.

One of the secrets of a delicious shawarma is the use of several types of meat, such as chicken, pork and lamb, which must be aged in a mixture of Arabic spices before frying, according to one oriental chef.

If the meat is dry, sprinkle it with orange juice during cooking or add a little oil or fat tail fat to the pan during frying. The meat will acquire tenderness and a spicy aroma.

For the sauce, grind the greens along with garlic and spices, and then mix these ingredients with the base. The sauce will turn out more tasty and fragrant. If you want to liven up the pale color of the sauce, add bright paprika, curry or herbs to it. It will turn out very beautiful and festive dressing!

Never heat shawarma in the microwave, as the pita bread in it becomes sour and loses its texture. Ready shawarma can be additionally smeared on top with sauce for juiciness and piquancy.

Homemade shawarma with chicken

Very easy recipe and you will love the result! Cut 600 g of chicken fillet into strips and fry it in a small amount of vegetable oil, salt and sprinkle with chicken spices. Chop half a head of Beijing cabbage, tear half a head of iceberg lettuce with your hands, cut into cubes 2 tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, 1 bell pepper and 1 stalk of celery, mix vegetables with meat.

Make a sauce from 200 g of sour cream, 2 tbsp. l. mayonnaise, a bunch of dill, parsley and green onions, also squeeze a couple of cloves of garlic into it. Now combine the sauce with meat and vegetables, mix well. Put the filling on the pita bread, first roll it up with an envelope, and then with a roll. You can heat it in a pan or eat it like this - bon appetit!

Vegetarian shawarma with spinach

Vegetarians can also enjoy shawarma - with vegetables and cheese, it is even easier to prepare. Finely chop a bunch of any herbs (dill, cilantro or parsley) and a bunch of basil. Mix about 400 g of thawed spinach with 1 clove of minced garlic and cook in the microwave for 10 minutes, then break an egg into the hot spinach and stir - it should curdle and harden.

Grease 2 sheets of pita bread with butter, drain the water from the spinach and put it on tortillas. On top, crumble 100 g of any cheese - hard or soft type dorblu, feta, Adyghe or mozzarella. Wrap the shawarma in the form of a roll and lightly fry on both sides in a dry frying pan to melt the cheese. This is a real delicacy!

Now you know how to cook shawarma at home. More precisely, the cooking technology, because there can be many options - it all depends on the meat, filling, spices and sauce. In this dish, you can show your imagination, how many housewives - so many shawarma recipes, and they are all successful!

Despite the fact that in modern dictionaries of the Russian language only the spelling variant "shawarma" is found, in a number of regions of Russia, depending on the density of the settlement of ethnic diasporas, the dialect variants "shawarma" and "shavarma" are also common. According to the linguist Yesenia Pavlotsky, since the word "shawarma" does not contradict the signs of the norm and is phonetically more convenient (because, unlike the variant "shawarma", it does not contain a confluence of vowels), it has a chance to be included in linguistic dictionaries in the future.

The word "shawarma" is the Arabic pronunciation of the Turkish word çevirme, meaning turning over, and referring to grilling ("Reporter", Mohammed N. Al Khan; "Staff", July 31, 2009, "Shawarma: Arabic Fast Food." Gulfnews. com.)

The dish was available to all segments of the population and differed only in meat, while the rest of the filling was unchanged.

In the Ottoman Empire, at least as far back as the 17th century, pieces of meat were cooked on a horizontal grill similar to a kebab. The vertical grill appeared no later than the middle of the 19th century. The city of Bursa in modern Turkey is generally considered to be the birthplace of döner kebap ("turned meat") - meat chips from puffed meat fried on a vertical spit.

Cooking

Cutting roasted meat from a skewer

For shawarma, meat is chosen - lamb, turkey, beef, chicken, sometimes pork. The meat is roasted according to a special technology in vertical grills designed for this purpose. The pieces are strung on a vertically located skewer, rotating around its own axis and relative to the heating elements located along the spit. As the meat is fried, it is cut with a long knife (or a special electric circular knife) into thin pieces that fall into the pan. These pieces are then further crushed.

Together with meat, sauce (white garlic and rarely red tomato) and vegetables (cabbage and cucumbers) are added to the filling of pita or pita.

Names in various regions

Countries in alphabetical order:

• In Azerbaijan, shawarma is called a dish with white sweet and sour sauce and in lavash, while traditional shawarma is called doner kebab or simply doner(Azerbaijani donər) .
• In Algeria, a similar dish is called dener.
• In Armenia this dish is called karsi-khorovats(barbecue in Karski). Karski shish kebab is a large piece of meat on a spit, from which pieces are gradually cut off as they are cooked and wrapped in psats (thin unleavened “lavash”).
• In Belgium the name is used pita durum(fr. pita durum), or simply durum(from Turkish dürüm “wrapped”), if the filling is wrapped in thin pita bread, or simply pita(fr. pita), if the filling is placed in half of the pita.
• In Bulgaria the name is used duner, although based on the recipe, this dish is closer to Greek gyros.
• Abbreviated in the UK kebab from tour. doner kebab.
• In Germany the name is used doner kebab(German Döner kebab), or simply Doner. The name is also used Schawarma. Sometimes the name is used durum(from Turkish dürüm “wrapped”), if the filling is wrapped in thin pita bread; meets the name Turkish pizza (German Türkische Pizza).
• In Greece (including Crete), meat cooked on a vertical spit is called gyros, and pita stuffed with this meat - gyros pita.
• In Israel, the name used for the same dish is shavarma, but due to the lack of vowels in normal Hebrew spelling (Heb. ‏שווארמה ‏‎), the reading is widespread shvarma; Arabs living in Israel pronounce it as shuarma. Served in a pita bread, in a thin pita bread - lafa, or a French baguette. The natives of Jerusalem call the Lafa "Eshtanur". Favorite seasonings are hummus, tahina, "amba" (liquid seasoning made from pickled mango), spicy chug. French fries are also placed and / or served separately. In Israeli shawarma, dairy components in any form are completely absent for reasons of kashrut.
• In Iran, the dish is called Turkish kebab(Persian کباب ترکی ‎ ).
• In Kazakhstan, the name shawarma (shaurma in Kazakh) is commonly used if the filling is placed in half of the pita, and doner (doner kebab) if the filling is wrapped in pita bread.
• Lebanese name for shawarma - kubba.
• In Lithuania, the dish is simply called kebabas (lit. kebabas).
• In Poland the name is used kebab(from German Dönerkebab) corrected for Polish stress (always on the penultimate syllable).

And there is no difference. Grilled, then finely chopped and wrapped in pita bread or pita meat is an ancient and very popular dish. In the Middle East, it has been eaten for several centuries, and each nation pronounces the name of the treat in its own way. Shaurma, shawarma, shaorma, shawarma, shwarma, shuarma…

The pronunciation and spelling of a word in Russian depend only on which language it was borrowed from in a particular area. Hence the slight play of letters.

Because of this game, however, there are serious disputes. For example, in Moscow it is customary to speak exclusively shawarma(the Gramota.ru portal assumes 7 questions about shawarma and shawarma that in the capital there simply turned out to be more native speakers of the language where exactly this name of fried meat is traditional). In Petersburg they love shawarma.

Some St. Petersburg residents, defending their ideas about literacy and cultural code, even demanded Petersburg deputy proposed to ban the word "shawarma" legally prohibit shawarma within the boundaries of the city. Based on this incident, one can imagine the level of intensity of culinary and cultural passions for a relatively harmless, in general, word.

How right - shawarma or shawarma

In written speech, one option is considered correct - shawarma. In the latest academic dictionaries, only this word is recorded, no shawarma there isn't.

We are talking about the "Russian Spelling Dictionary" edited by V. V. Lopatin, O. E. Ivanova and the "Big Dictionary of the Russian Language" by M. L. Kalenchuk, L. L. Kasatkina, R. F. Kasatkina. Both editions were published in 2012 by the staff of the Moscow Institute of the Russian Language named after V. V. Vinogradov RAS.

But you can say whatever you like. According to linguists 7 questions about shawarma and shawarma, shawarma continues to be a word of the Russian language and a vivid example of Petersburg speech.

Can shawarma get into writing

It may well be that shawarma will also be included in dictionaries. There are several prerequisites for this.

First, some linguists believe that the word shawarma phonetically more competent and convenient, since it does not welcome the confluence of two vowels, as in shawarma.

Secondly, in 2017, experts from the Vinogradov Russian Language Institute named Shawarma allowed to call shvarma possible inclusion of the word shawarma and other options like shvarma, in explanatory dictionaries.

Well, the minced meat lovers have long been looking forward to the release of the corresponding volume of the “Big Academic Dictionary of the Russian Language”. This most authoritative publication is being prepared by the St. Petersburg Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The multi-volume dictionary has been published since 2004. While 24 volumes have been published, experts have reached the letter C.

It remains to wait until the dictionary reaches the letter Ш and finally deals with the equally tasty, even in the form shawarma, though shawarma meat. It is very likely that both names will finally receive identical rights.

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