"That's a lot of meat," my husband remarked as we waited for our yiros to be made. "Will they go through it in one night?" It was about 8pm on a weekday earlier this month.
So cheers to yiro for being very cheap, somewhat healthy, highly democratic, very transparent, psychologically uplifting, and entertainingly social. And most of all, because it tastes so good.
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
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| Ya! souvlatzidiko, Hania centre |
Of course they will go through all that meat in one night. Souvlaki (or yiro, the terms are often used interchangeably) are incredibly popular these days for so many reasons. Souvlaki is a cheap meal - in fact, it has never been as cheap as it is now, all to do with the crisis, of course. The seating areas at souvlaki shops are always crowded, but that tells only half the story - the delivery bikes don't stop running after a certain hour: most of the business conducted by souvlatzidika is done over the phone, not in the shop.
Yiros may be a cheap meal, but it is a filling meal, containing your meat (pork, chicken or beef), carbs (fried potatoes and pita bread) and salad vegetables (tomatoes and onions, lettuce on demand), all topped with a dollop of dairy (strained yoghurt). In other words, it's a complete meal. All that's missing is dessert; on a hot summer's night, you'll probably round off your souvlaki dinner with watermelon to cleanse the palate.
Yiros may be a cheap meal, but it is a filling meal, containing your meat (pork, chicken or beef), carbs (fried potatoes and pita bread) and salad vegetables (tomatoes and onions, lettuce on demand), all topped with a dollop of dairy (strained yoghurt). In other words, it's a complete meal. All that's missing is dessert; on a hot summer's night, you'll probably round off your souvlaki dinner with watermelon to cleanse the palate.
But yiros is more than just a meal. Yiros makes you feel good - it's the equivalent of an adult version of a happy meal, which is eaten by all age groups, making an outing to a souvlatzidiko the perfect family mid-week jaunt. Going for out a yiros is a psychologically uplifting experience. It places you straight in the thick of the crowds, where you will be seen; in a small town, you will bump into people along the way, all of whom are going there for the same purpose, to get themselves a souvlaki.
If you want to see where the young people are in town, look towards a souvlatzidiko, and you will find them both behind and in front of the counter, jamming themselves together to make room for everyone in the limited seating spaces available at such places. And if you don't eat meat, no worries: souvlatzidika have moved along with the modern times - there are vegetarian options available too. The easiest one of its kind is simply to omit the meat, but there are now places offering vegetarian bifteki (burger patties) made with zucchini or chickpeas.
Most people go to a souvlatzidiko with their παρέα, but you will see a loner here and there, snacking on a tasty pita wrap. Even that person is not alone - the souvlatzidiko in our times has become a meeting place and no wonder - yiro can work out cheaper than a drink at a cafe. What's more, yiro is a democratic choice in food - a yiro is a yiro is a yiro, and everyone eats the same thing from a souvlatzidiko - only the meat choice may be different (you can choose among pork, beef and chicken - rarely lamb though in Hania as our lamb meat is not appropriate for this kind of cooking), but the difference in price is not much more than 30 eurocents. Yiro is the most popular Greek junk food - and it's not even junk, if you consider that it's a completely transparent meal.
Souvlatzidiko in Hania (left) and Thessaloniki (right) - yiros is a quintessential Greek meal that knows no boundaries
Most people go to a souvlatzidiko with their παρέα, but you will see a loner here and there, snacking on a tasty pita wrap. Even that person is not alone - the souvlatzidiko in our times has become a meeting place and no wonder - yiro can work out cheaper than a drink at a cafe. What's more, yiro is a democratic choice in food - a yiro is a yiro is a yiro, and everyone eats the same thing from a souvlatzidiko - only the meat choice may be different (you can choose among pork, beef and chicken - rarely lamb though in Hania as our lamb meat is not appropriate for this kind of cooking), but the difference in price is not much more than 30 eurocents. Yiro is the most popular Greek junk food - and it's not even junk, if you consider that it's a completely transparent meal.
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| Vantes souvlaki, Gogoni St |
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
In the UK those hunks of meat are usually (supposed to be) lamb. I often wondered how they got the meat to stick together. Where I grew up in the States there was a Greek place that used to serve what they called souvlaki with cubes of lamb, yogurt and tomato and onion on a pita on a plate. You then folded it over yourself and ate it.
ReplyDeleteIts true what they say, a photo speaks a thousands words. Take this Vantes Souvlaki Γύρος, i dont have to taste it to know that its really a work of art, toasted and slightly oily pitta, well cooked crispy quality seasoned meat, the right amount of onion , ripe thick slices of tomato, a sprinkle of paprika , thick tzatziki. Perfection , it may look as something simple to make But! for example here in Sydney Australia , no one can make a Yiros as good .
ReplyDeleteSorry to say that my only encounter with a (as spelled here in my state) "gyro" was rather negative. I took one look at the huge cylindrical tower of "meat" hanging above the counter from which a man was "shaving" pieces and said "no" to my first chance to taste one. The meat looked mysterious and was a sickly grey color. I admit I did not know what it was. Is that the way it is done in Crete, too? I think it must not have been an authentic yiro shop. Why would I expect authenticity in the middle of the US?
ReplyDeleteHow in the world do they form that hefty meat cylinder? I must try one again some time. If it can be made with simply grilled and identifiable meat I'm IN!
i'm not really a souvlaki fan, but i remember taking the photo of the stacked meats on a day when i was very hungry after a very long work day - i rarely buy souvlaki, but on this day, i actually ate it while walking with my family on the street (that's a rare sight - if you are that hungry as a greek, you will still take the time to sit down and have your souvlaki in the shop)
Deletethe meat stacks are made of pieces of pork or chicken meat speared on top of each other, the beef is moulded into a huge kebab - as the upright roatoing grill cooks it, pieces are shaved off - the pork or chicken comes off as small chunks, while the beef one comes off as a shaving
This yiros in its Cretan variation, with yogurt instead of tzatziki. When I visited Crete, many years ago, I almost choked after the first bite, when I realized the difference. After a while, I got used to it, nevertheless. On the other part of the greek map, in Kerkyra, "Corfu", they also serve a spoonful of "pastitsado" sauce, on top of the tzatziki. The juiciest souvlaki I've ever tasted (we even needed extra pitta to dip in the juices at the bottom of the paper wrap. Delicious!!!
ReplyDeletepastitsado sauce sounds really good on top of yoghurt - whenever we travel in greece, we always try the souvlaki, becos it's always slightly different depending on the locality (in crete, you can ask for tzatziki instead of plain yoghurt - we usually ask for tzatziki)
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