Shawarma A Healthy option To Fast Food
TIRED of eating the regular fast foods? Then try places that serve brilliant alternatives. Shawarma, a popular dish and fast-food staple across the Middle-East and consumed across the world, is a brilliant alternative to fast foods.
By Roger Mugisha
TIRED of eating the regular fast foods? Then try places that serve brilliant alternatives. Shawarma, a popular dish and fast-food staple across the Middle-East and consumed across the world, is a brilliant alternative to fast foods.
Shawarma is made by placing strips of meat or marinated chicken on a skewer.
Different types of meat can be used. The principle, however, is the meat will be placed on a skewer, and can be grilled for the whole day.
The meat is rolled on the skewers, then pieces are sliced off when the meat is ready, onto a circular tray which is normally placed below the skewer.
The meat is then served when hot.
fendy’s Turkish Restaurant at Centenary Park is one of the places that serve Shawarmas in town.
“Animal fat and an onion or tomato is placed at the top of the stack to provide flavouring.
The meat is then roasted slowly on all sides as the skewer rotates in front of or over a flame for several hours. Traditionally, a wood fire was used, but today a gas flame is more common,†says Melih Aksay, proprietor of Efendy’s Turkish Restaurant.
Shawarma is commonly eaten as a fast food. The meat can be placed between pita bread and to make a sandwich or it can be rolled up in lafa (a sweet, fluffy flatbread) together with vegetables and a dressing.
Shawarma is mainly served with cucumber, onions, tomato, lettuce, parsley, pickled turnips, pickled gherkins, cabbage. It can be enjoyed with French fries.
Common dressings include Tahini, Amba sauce (pickled mango with Chilbeh) and hummus, flavoured with vinegar and spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
“The chicken shawarma, however, is often served with garlic mayonnaise, skhug (a hot chili sauce), or any combination of the three. Once the sandwich is made, it is dipped in the fat dripping from the skewer and then briefly placed above the flame,†Melih added.
Another place that makes delicious Shawarmas is the Lebanese restaurant above Me Restaurant at Diamond Trust.
“Our Shawarmas can be enjoyed with hotdog buns, baguettes, grilled bread, fries or fresh pita bread.
“Sometimes, the beef (Shawarma), contains lamb to make it tasty. While Shawarma originated in Turkey, it has become a popularform of fast food,†Mroue says.
Most Shawarmas are made outside restaurants because they are massive towering logs of revolving meat over or in front of vertical red cookers.
These meat logs are usually manned by shawarma cutters, sometimes dressed in entire cook’s outfits with French chef hats. The men wield lengthy knives which they use to slice off bits of the meat onto the trays.
TIRED of eating the regular fast foods? Then try places that serve brilliant alternatives. Shawarma, a popular dish and fast-food staple across the Middle-East and consumed across the world, is a brilliant alternative to fast foods.
Shawarma is made by placing strips of meat or marinated chicken on a skewer.
Different types of meat can be used. The principle, however, is the meat will be placed on a skewer, and can be grilled for the whole day.
The meat is rolled on the skewers, then pieces are sliced off when the meat is ready, onto a circular tray which is normally placed below the skewer.
The meat is then served when hot.
fendy’s Turkish Restaurant at Centenary Park is one of the places that serve Shawarmas in town.
“Animal fat and an onion or tomato is placed at the top of the stack to provide flavouring.
The meat is then roasted slowly on all sides as the skewer rotates in front of or over a flame for several hours. Traditionally, a wood fire was used, but today a gas flame is more common,†says Melih Aksay, proprietor of Efendy’s Turkish Restaurant.
Shawarma is commonly eaten as a fast food. The meat can be placed between pita bread and to make a sandwich or it can be rolled up in lafa (a sweet, fluffy flatbread) together with vegetables and a dressing.
Shawarma is mainly served with cucumber, onions, tomato, lettuce, parsley, pickled turnips, pickled gherkins, cabbage. It can be enjoyed with French fries.
Common dressings include Tahini, Amba sauce (pickled mango with Chilbeh) and hummus, flavoured with vinegar and spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
“The chicken shawarma, however, is often served with garlic mayonnaise, skhug (a hot chili sauce), or any combination of the three. Once the sandwich is made, it is dipped in the fat dripping from the skewer and then briefly placed above the flame,†Melih added.
Another place that makes delicious Shawarmas is the Lebanese restaurant above Me Restaurant at Diamond Trust.
“Our Shawarmas can be enjoyed with hotdog buns, baguettes, grilled bread, fries or fresh pita bread.
“Sometimes, the beef (Shawarma), contains lamb to make it tasty. While Shawarma originated in Turkey, it has become a popularform of fast food,†Mroue says.
Most Shawarmas are made outside restaurants because they are massive towering logs of revolving meat over or in front of vertical red cookers.
These meat logs are usually manned by shawarma cutters, sometimes dressed in entire cook’s outfits with French chef hats. The men wield lengthy knives which they use to slice off bits of the meat onto the trays.