Souvlaki

Souvlaki

Souvlaki in Athens, known there also as kalamaki
Alternative names	cetsyvlaki
Type	Fast food
Place of origin	Greece
Region or state	Greece
Associated cuisine	Greek cuisine
Main ingredients	Various meats
Media: Souvlaki

Souvlaki (

In

In Mycenaean Greece, "souvlaki trays" were discovered in Gla, Mycenae, and Pylos.^[3] The "souvlaki trays" (or portable grills) used by the Mycenaean Greeks were rectangular ceramic pans that sat underneath skewers of meat.^[3] It is not clear whether these trays would have been placed directly over a fire or if the pans would have held hot coals like a portable barbecue pit.^[3][6] Spit supports appear to "continue in use into the Early Iron Age at Nichoria."^[3] In Greek literature, Homer in the Iliad (1.465) mentions pieces of meat roasted on spits (ὀβελός); this is also mentioned in the works of Aristophanes,^[7] Xenophon,^[8] Aristotle,^[9] and others.^[10][11] In Classical Greece, a small spit or skewer was known as ὀβελίσκος (obeliskos),^[12] and Aristophanes mentions such skewers being used to roast thrushes.^[13]

In the Byzantine Empire, the Greek author of the Prodromic Poems (4.231) mentions "the hot meat shops" of Constantinople providing clients with spit-roasting meat slices similar to souvlaki known as psenasis souglitarea.^[14]

Modern-day souvlaki was described by Gustave Flaubert, a French traveler, who observed Greeks "grilling pieces of meat on a bamboo stick" during his visit to the Boeotian countryside of southern Central Greece in 1850.^[15] However, modern-day souvlaki was not widely distributed in Greece until after World War II.^[15] Souvlaki skewers served as fast food started to be sold widely in the 1960s, after being introduced by vendors from Boeotia.^[15] The first known use of the word souvlaki in English was in 1942.^[16]

Variations

Kalamaki

Kalamaki (καλαμάκι meaning "

Merída (μερίδα) means portion in Greek. While souvlaki is eaten plain as a fast food, it is also served as a full plate, served with fried potatoes, vegetables, sauce, and quartered pita bread. Usually it consists of the ingredients of a souvlaki-pita (see below) laid out on a plate. Lamb is mostly used, but others can be used, such as ox.

Souvlaki pita

Souvlaki-

In some areas, when chicken is used instead of pork, tzatziki and onions are replaced with a special yellow mustard sauce and

Corfu

In Corfu, a special tomato sauce is added to souvlaki, plainly called "red sauce" (κόκκινη σάλτσα).

Cyprus

In Cyprus, souvlaki can refer both to the small chunks of meat on a skewer, and to the dish. It is made with a large pita that has a pocket-style opening. Into this is placed the meat (traditionally lamb or pork, more recently sheftalia or chicken), which in Cypriot souvlaki is cut into slightly larger chunks. Tomatoes, cucumbers and shredded white cabbage are the usual salad additions. Onion, parsley, and pickled green chili peppers are common accompaniments, as are yogurt and tzatziki. Cut lemons are always included with souvlaki, as they are with all grilled meats in Cyprus. Lettuce is not traditional and is seldom used in souvlaki outside of tourist resorts.^{[citation needed]}

References

Citations