The dirty story behind gyro

There were two questions that were popping in people’s minds the minute they knew I was Greek.

Question number one: how do you pronounce your last name? I wonder why? My last name only has 14 letters!

Question number two (which was usually asked by people who did not know my last name): How do you say “gyro” in Greek? This is a question that has been tormenting the Americans since the introduction of gyro, in Chicago in 1965, or probably a little later in the 1970s, when the mass production of gyro started on US soil.

Linguistically, the word gyro (or gyros) is the greeklish interpretation of the word γύρος, which means spin or turn. Gyro is big chunks of meat skewed on a vertical spit, which rotates near a heating source and slowly cooks the meat around. Gyro is usually served on pita bread, with chopped tomato, sliced onions and tzatziki, a yoghurt based sauce with cucumber.

Gyro is the most famous street food in Greece, along with the souvlaki, which is cubes of pork meat of a skewer. However, the way it is prepared and served in the US is completely different with the way it is enjoyed in Greece. There are four key points that mark a clear distinction between the two gyro sandwiches.

Fact #1: Gyro is not made of lamb. At least not in Greece. There is a perception that Greeks eat only lamb and goat meat. It is true that lamb is a key protein in the Greek diet due to environmental factors. The Mediterranean basin has a rather dry climate and the vegetation is not as rich as the green pastures of Northern Europe. Consequently, raising cows is very expensive, whereas the production of lamb meat is economically justifiable. As a matter of fact, lamb meat is featured in the majority of festive dishes in Greece, like the lamb on the spit for the Easter celebrations.

 Another common meat used in the Greek diet though, is pork. Pigs are the next non-expensive animal to raise, as they are omnivores, thus they can eat anything, including leftovers. However, they need a big quantity of food for their diet, so they cost more to raise than sheep. Nevertheless, the gyro in Greece is traditionally made from pork meat. The closest dish to gyro on the culinary map is Mexican al pastor, if we skip the pineapple and the hot spices. Other world cuisines that feature similar dishes have alternative choices of meat, like the Turkish döner kebab, which is made of beef and the Middle Eastern shawarma, which is prepared with a mix of roasted meat.

Fact #2: There is no feta cheese in a gyro sandwich. Moreover, adding feta to any dish does not automatically make it Greek! I always remember the expression of curiosity mixed with disappointment when I was leaving feta out of my gyro sandwich. “No feta? Why? But you are Greek!” That was the usual question following my order.

Greek gyro sandwich, with french fries, onion mustard and ketchup

Feta cheese is a POD Greek cheese, made of sheep milk or a blend of sheep and goat milk. It is the most famous Greek cheese around the world and its name is indicative of its origin. It is vastly used in Greek cuisine, but when it comes to local cooking, it hardly makes the list of the top 5 most commonly used ingredients. To speak the truth, Greek cooks have a vast variety of cheeses to choose from for their cooking, that feta is simply another delicious cheese.

When it comes to the complimentary ingredients in a pita sandwich, the choices are simple. French fries are best friends with gyro meat. For freshness salad is added, which is sliced tomato and onion. The only dairy product is the famous tzatziki. No feta, no other cheese. Plus, for the last 30 years or so, we like to add ketchup and mustard in our sandwich for more flavor. And that is the holy trinity of gyros: tzatziki, ketchup and mustard!

Fact #3: The secret of a flavorful gyro is in the fat. Greek gyro makers alternate on the spit chunks of meat with pieces of fat. That fat melts and moistens the meat, creating a desirable crispiness on the outside and caging all the juices inside of the gyro meat. The vertical position of the spit facilitates the process and the biggest amount of the juice stays inside the meat. When the outside is crusty the carver sharpens his knives and trims the crispy parts into thin chunks of juicy meat. 

In the US though, the trend is to avoid fatty food. I was very surprised to come across unhealthy food, like potato chips, advertised as containing zero trans fats, implying that it is healthy. This gave me a good excuse to consume numerous bags of potato chips, my gastronomic weakness, but without the guilt of eating unhealthy food the pleasure was not the same. The mass production and storage of gyro cones made it difficult to prepare this food the traditional Greek way. For such a cone, beef and lamb trimmings are mixed with breadcrumbs and a mix of spices and a processor turns it into a giant cone-shaped burger. When it is roasted, the carver trims long burger stripes for the gyro sandwich. 

Greek-style gyro vs. American style gyro on a rotisserie

It is this difference in the preparation and the choice of meat that make the flavor of the two gyro sandwiches different. Most of all, it is the lack of fat in the American style gyro that deprives the delicacy of the necessary guilt to enjoy it.

Fact #4: The best way to enjoy a gyro sandwich is by hand. I had been on a date once and the prospective boyfriend took me to a gyro shop. I thought that on a first date it was proper to show my good manners and I ate my sandwich like a lady using a fork and a knife. I made it through the entire date without a drop of grease on my fingers or a stain of sauce on my clothes. I disregarded the weird looks on the gentleman’s face and mistakenly thought that I had a successful first date. Nevertheless, I never had a chance for a second date. Apparently a fork and a knife were not the appropriate etiquette for gyro eating. After this doomed date, in one of the conversations I had with my friend Maria, a faithful fellow gyro eater, we agreed upon one conclusion. Gyro is like sex. The messier you get, the more you enjoy it.

This typical Greek street food is among the most popular choices for the bar night owls. The canteens and food trucks that serve this food after the bars and clubs are closed are commonly known as “vromiko”. The word stands for dirty, but it has nothing to do with the quality or the sanitation of the served food. The word vromiko indicates that the food is so sinfully delicious and succulent that it is enjoyed with a serving of guilt for the mischief you are about to commit. Since there are no sitting tables, there are no utensils either. Thus, the gyro is consumed the traditional way, with the sandwich in one hand and a pile of paper napkins in the other. No worries about messing up your hands or staining your brand new shirt. All the happy faces around the food trucks and gyro shops, along with my failed first date, have shown me that improper eating manners are the proper etiquette for enjoying this exquisite food.

 
Gyro is the food I missed the most while living in the US.  It might be considered as street food, but for me it is equivalent to comfort food, as it fills my soul with pleasure. For closing, watch the history of the American-style gyro in Alton Brown's humorous perspective.