Food & Drinks 2013

[aster]

You sure do some nice cooking there Yildiz, good photo too.
Greg

Thank you, Greg.


Yildiz

[Birma]

Lovely picture Yildiz. It looks very appetising

[aster]

Thank you, Birma.


Yildiz

[sury]

Yildiz,
All we need to add is some hot sauce (as in spicy) and I am ready to wolf it down.
I am a family man so I will not differentiate between mother and daughter, I assure you.

[aster]

Yildiz,
All we need to add is some hot sauce (as in spicy) and I am ready to wolf it down.
I am a family man so I will not differentiate between mother and daughter, I assure you.

Good to know, family man.

Thank you for the nice comments.

Yildiz

[aster]

Hi, : )

Just some Borek with cheese and spinach filling and freshly prepared Döner Kebab from a tiny restaurant downtown. It looked and smelled very appatising when I was taking the photo. It was too hot outside for me to grab some in pita bread though. Börek was nice alongside a mug of freshly made tea.

Yildiz


Börek

Borek-CheseAndSpinach.jpg

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Döner Kebab

DonerKebab-BeefAndLambOnSpit.jpg

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[sury]

Drool. Where is my napkin? I have a wet spot on my shirt.

Sury

[mvanrheenen]

Oh yummy! Although I like Egyptian shoarma or Greek gyros more than döner kebab. Does look mighty tasty though!

[aster]

Drool. Where is my napkin? I have a wet spot on my shirt.

Sury

Thank you, Sury.

Oh yummy! Although I like Egyptian shoarma or Greek gyros more than döner kebab. Does look mighty tasty though!

Thanks, Mark. I believe the origin is the same for them all; shawarma is also Turkish originated, the actual word being 'çevirme' which means 'turning', because of the way it was pronounced by the Arabs and foreigners the spelling changed too in the countries it was introduced.
I learned that the difference comes from the way the meat is seasoned or served.

In any case some restaurants make it nicely enough for me too like it also...

Yildiz

[mvanrheenen]

My apologies, I actually thought shawarma/shoarma was an Egyptian dish.

[aster]

My apologies, I actually thought shawarma/shoarma was an Egyptian dish.

No need for apologies, Mark. I don't mind at all. Al these countries are Mediterranean lands and share a really broad food culture in their roots, Greek included. I just was trying to explain the hows. One way or an other it's a popular fast food known to many and that's what counts, I believe. It even has a different name in Armenian.

A quote from Wikipedia:
"Etymology:
The Arabic word shawarma comes from the Turkish word çevirme [tʃeviɾˈme] "turning", and has Shawarma origins in Anatolia, Turkey.[3]
It is similar to the dish called döner kebab, “turning kebab”, in Turkish, and the Greek gyros, "turned", formerly called ντονέρ /doˈner/.[4] A related Armenian dish is tarna, literally meaning “to turn”."

Here's the Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawarma


Yildiz

[Greg Beetham]

The rolls look attractive Yildiz, sort of like our savoury sausage rolls.
For the next one I had to check the link to understand the vertical rotisserie properly, (in the photo it looked huge but probably not as big as it looked), it would be a fast way of serving a meal, I understand they shave off some meat. Is the hot grill I can see behind actually for cooking or is that to keep it hot, or does it cook progressively as some is shaved off?
Interesting to see, I doubt I’d be game enough to order with the hot chili sauce though, the garlic sauce would probably be ‘safe’ I imagine
Greg

[aster]

Good morning, Greg. (08:07 am at the moment and feels rather weird talking about a dish one would have for lunch)

Döner Kebab is something that you'd like I think. When the mixture of meat types and fat and seasonings are right the taste is just great. If it were't hot yesterday, I might have showed it as a sandwich or as served on a plate. But it was too hot for me to go for a hot spicy food at the time albeit I really wanted to because it really was good meat and promised to be a good lunch.

There's either a gas cooker as the one you see in the photo or hot coal /wood pieces on a vertical platform. When wood is used to grill, the smoke from a selection of wood types make the meat even better, liked smoked dry meats. The fire is constantly on, first to cook then to keep the meat warm until all the meat is shaved off by evening. A long and sharp blade is used for the shaving traditionally, but nowadays I see electric knives are also used. (They actually created one that shaves and collects the shavings in a little bucket-like brass container. Speeds up things when patrons are queing up at the door.

Usually served with pickeled vegetables, salads, onions, pepper, tomatoes and any sauce you like. The whole experience of Döner Kebab changes with each one that asks for different salads and pickeled vegies. I'm sure there's someone making and selling Döner or Shawarma in Australia too.

The Döner Kebab in my photo is around 1,20 m high. That's why I photographed it, it was a spectacular sight for the passers by and myself. In other restaurants one can find some meat stacks avaraging around 60 cm.

Yildiz

[mvanrheenen]

Thank you for all the info Yildiz. Allthough all those dishes are alike, all countries use different seasoning as you said which accounts for different flavours. I must admit to only have experienced gyros in Greece and the rest from immigrants who started restaurants serving these meals. Yes it is considered fast food, but that would degrade the quality of those fine establishments, especially some of the top quality Greek and Turkish ones around here! Only döner kebab I never got in a descent establishment. Maybe that's the reason I don't like it that much

Mark

[aster]

Thank you for all the info Yildiz. Allthough all those dishes are alike, all countries use different seasoning as you said which accounts for different flavours. I must admit to only have experienced gyros in Greece and the rest from immigrants who started restaurants serving these meals. Yes it is considered fast food, but that would degrade the quality of those fine establishments, especially some of the top quality Greek and Turkish ones around here! Only döner kebab I never got in a descent establishment. Maybe that's the reason I don't like it that much

Mark

You're welcome, Mark.

I hope that you get an opportunity to experience Döner Kebab just as it should taste someday, with all the rich seasonings and flavours ...and a good wood fire that richens the flavour. You deserve a good experience in a good Döner restaurant. Immigrants in Netherlands may be changing or alternating many of the ingredients for all we know. Everyone's different. In Istanbul, you can find a little restaurant in almost every corner but finding the delicious Döner is still tricky and one learns by experience to which restaurant to go to and order.

And...it really doesn't matter if you don't like it as much. : ) One has to consume to their delight not to please others just because others say they like it. A good restaurant indeed may change yor feelings around.

Yildiz