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Gyros
Gyros, sometimes anglicized as a gyro (/ˈjɪəroʊ, ˈdʒɪər-, ˈdʒaɪr-/; Greek: γύρος, romanized: gýros/yíros, lit. 'turn', pronounced [ˈʝiros]), 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, fried potatoes, 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.
The name comes from the Greek γύρος (gýros, 'circle' or 'turn'). It is a calque of the Turkish döner, from dönmek, also meaning 'turn'.
In Greek, "gyros" is a nominative 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 [ˈʝiɾos]. Some English speakers pronounce it /ˈdʒaɪroʊ/, because the word is a heteronym of the related word "gyro".
In Athens and other parts of southern Greece, the skewered meat dish elsewhere called souvlaki is known as kalamaki, while souvlaki is a term used generally for gyros, and similar dishes. In other regions, for example in Thessaloniki, gyros only refers to the meat on the spit, and what English speakers refer to as a "gyros wrap" is called a 'sandwich' (σάντουιτς).
Gyros is made in a manner similar to other dishes such as the Arab shawarma, Canadian donair, Mexican al pastor, and the Turkish döner kebab.
Grilling a vertical spit of stacked meat and slicing it off as it cooks was developed in the city of Bursa during the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire. After the 1922–23 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the Greeks of Asia Minor brought their variation with them to Greece. Following World War II, gyros made with lamb was present in Athens. It was likely introduced by immigrants from Anatolia and the Middle East. The Greek version is normally made with pork and served with tzatziki, and became known as gyros.
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.
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Gyros AI simulator
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Gyros
Gyros, sometimes anglicized as a gyro (/ˈjɪəroʊ, ˈdʒɪər-, ˈdʒaɪr-/; Greek: γύρος, romanized: gýros/yíros, lit. 'turn', pronounced [ˈʝiros]), 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, fried potatoes, 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.
The name comes from the Greek γύρος (gýros, 'circle' or 'turn'). It is a calque of the Turkish döner, from dönmek, also meaning 'turn'.
In Greek, "gyros" is a nominative 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 [ˈʝiɾos]. Some English speakers pronounce it /ˈdʒaɪroʊ/, because the word is a heteronym of the related word "gyro".
In Athens and other parts of southern Greece, the skewered meat dish elsewhere called souvlaki is known as kalamaki, while souvlaki is a term used generally for gyros, and similar dishes. In other regions, for example in Thessaloniki, gyros only refers to the meat on the spit, and what English speakers refer to as a "gyros wrap" is called a 'sandwich' (σάντουιτς).
Gyros is made in a manner similar to other dishes such as the Arab shawarma, Canadian donair, Mexican al pastor, and the Turkish döner kebab.
Grilling a vertical spit of stacked meat and slicing it off as it cooks was developed in the city of Bursa during the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire. After the 1922–23 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the Greeks of Asia Minor brought their variation with them to Greece. Following World War II, gyros made with lamb was present in Athens. It was likely introduced by immigrants from Anatolia and the Middle East. The Greek version is normally made with pork and served with tzatziki, and became known as gyros.
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.