Product Code Database
Gyros, sometimes anglicized as a gyro" Gyro ". Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. 2022. (; , ), 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, French fries, and tzatziki. In Greece, it is normally made with pork or sometimes with chicken, whilst ground beef and lamb are also used in other countries.
In Greek, "" is a Nominative case singular noun, but the final 's' is often interpreted in English usage as plural, leading to the singular back-formation "gyro". The standard Greek and English pronunciation is . Some English speakers pronounce it , because the word is a heteronym of the related word "".
In Athens and other parts of southern Greece, the skewered meat dish elsewhere called souvlaki is known as , while is a term used generally for gyros, and similar dishes. In other regions, for example in Thessaloniki, only refers to the meat on the spit, and what English speakers refer to as a "gyros wrap" is called a (σάντουιτς).
By 1970, gyros wraps were already a popular fast food in Athens, as well as in Chicago and New York City. At that time, although vertical rotisseries were starting to be mass-produced in the US by Gyros Inc. 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.
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.
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. 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 grilling. 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.
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.
In Greece, it is customarily served in an oiled, lightly grilled piece of pita, rolled up with sliced tomatoes, chopped onions, and french fries, sometimes topped with tzatziki, or, sometimes in northern Greece, ketchup or mustard.
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