I Should be Souvlaki

During my recent travels to Greece, I discovered how much the Greeks really do enjoy their souvlakia – the ultimate Greek fast food! The main point of difference with authentic Greek souvlakia is that they traditionally do not contain lamb!

As an Aussie of Greek heritage, my earliest and fondest memory of souvlaki was associated with Greek Easter and lamb… lots of it! Long metal skewers were studded with succulent cubes of lamb from the leg or fillet, generously seasoned with salt, pepper and rigani – a wild Greek oregano, more intense in flavour than traditional oregano. In fact, a large variety of Greek foods are adorned with rigani – potatoes, Greek salad, casseroles, BBQ meats… the list is a long one. We also discovered during our Greek travels that when ordering a souvlaki, one had to be quite specific. Not being a great fan of pork generally, I soon discovered that the pork in Greece was to die for! Oh my, what a discovery! Marbled with just the right amount of fat, this lean white meat provided us with some of the most amazing food tastes in Greece.

Giros

The term giros (always pronounced yee-ros) refers to shaved cooked meat (generally pork or chicken) off a vertical rotisserie, containing just the right amount of fat to assist with moistness and flavour during the cooking process.

Kalamaki

Kalamaki is a cubed meat skewer cooked over hot coals, enjoyed on its own as fast finger food on the run or encased in a pita bread as a wrapped souvlaki. If you were to order ‘giros’ in Greece, chances were that you would be presented with a platter of shaved giros meat accompanied by toasted pita bread triangles, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, onion and tzatziki, essentially a deconstructed souvlaki on a plate. In Greece this is referred to as a ‘meritha’ or portioned plate. Consequently, we always asked for a tilihto souvlaki (pronounced ti-li-h-to), either giros or kalamaki, depending on what we felt like on the day. This term refers to a wrapped souvlaki. In most restaurants, the choice of meats was either pork or chicken, both delicious! We loved the way that Greek tilihta souvlakia were always wrapped in a cone shape rather than bon-bon style. They contained delicious thick and creamy tzatziki, studded with patates tiganites (deep fried potato chips), shredded lettuce, sliced onion and tomato. Simply delicious fare! We spoilt ourselves by always ordering a side of patates tiganites sprinkled with feta and rigani to accompany our souvlaki ...mouthwatering stuff.

We also loved that the size of Greek souvlakia were so manageable. None of this ‘garlic sauce dripping down your arms’ business here. They were compact, fuelled empty tummies and more importantly they were pretty healthy overall, leaving us feeling satisfied without being tipped over the edge. I think we can take a leaf out of the Greek’s souvlaki book here with just the right mix of vegetables, dairy, protein and carbohydrates! We were also blown away by the quality of the produce used everywhere.

Always fresh and full of flavour.

I may be stating the obvious here, but my advice to any travelling foodie is to always ask the locals where to eat. We frequently found ourselves discovering many little gems as a result. One being a lovely hole in the wall diner in a tiny narrow laneway in Mykonos. Here we were served our most memorable chicken souvlaki in Greece, consisting of chicken kalamaki, mixed cabbage slaw dressed with a light vinaigrette, freshly made dijonnaise and patates tiganites. So good that these little piggies ordered seconds! My observations with all the beautiful food we had in Greece was that this country prides itself on the freshness of its produce, and cooking it in a simple way for maximum enjoyment. Well worth celebrating.

Kali Orexi!

As a souvlakia meat alternative you could try Edgell Plant Based lamb strips, perfect for vegetarian, vegan and flexitarian dishes. Guaranteed to satisfy any customer who still enjoys the taste and texture of lamb.