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Gyro Meat

submitted by food.chat

Hi there! I have lived and worked in Greece for a few years, and worked as
a butcher in the U.S. for quite some time, so let me shed a bit of light:
Donair (doner or Donar), Gyros, and Schwarma are all pretty much the same
thing. The Doner Kebab (probably the closest original ethnic food to the
American invention, the Gyro) is originally from Turkey. The gyro is an
American invention which is basically a cheap version of a traditional
Greek Kebab (the main difference is that the Greek one would use large
pieces of boned lamb, pressed together using its own fat as a binder, and
marinated, whereas Gyro uses ground meat.) The Schwarma is a version from
the Middle East that is much larger, uses a similar meat to the Greek
kebab, but less meat and more vegetables in the kebab itself. A
traditional gyro should be made with at least 50% ground lamb, and the
rest beef. The best ground to use is one with a high fat content (this is
so that during the remixing it binds and keeps it shape well!). The main
flavouring ingredients should always be: garlic, onion, marjoram,
rosemary, salt and black pepper. Marjoram and Rosemary are similar to
oregano and thyme in flavour (respectively), and are common ingredients
in Greek cooking. True Greek food rarely uses oregano. The mass-produced
Gyros use oregano, not to mention garlic and onion powder, but we used
fresh minced garlic and onions. Here is the recipe we used where I used
to work (compliments of Feller's Meat in Clearfield, Utah!)

1 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup very finely chopped (or shredded) onion
2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon salt (preferably sea salt)
1/2 teaspoon dried ground marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried ground rosemary
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Mix everything together and let sit in the fridge for 1-2 hours. Blend in
a food processor for about 1 minute. (When cooked, this will help give it
a more traditional gyro feel on your palate. Otherwise, it just takes
like cooked minced meat.) Form into an oblong around a spit, and slow
cook over a grill for around 30-45 minutes, cooking far from the coals,
and rotating slowly. Alternatively, bake in the oven in a meatloaf shape
for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, at 325 degrees F. It should be a bit dry.
I hope that helps!

P.S. Tzatziki is made with 500 ml. plain natural or Greek yogurt, 1
cu***ber which has been peeled and descended and grated and drained of
extra liquid, and 2-4 cloves of fresh minced garlic. Mix together, and
let sit in fridge until ready to use. This is an extremely traditional
recipe, and might be a bit sharp for the average American palate, so you
might want to halve the garlic amount.

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