Horizontal Gyros

As you all know, Gyros is usually cooked on a vertical broiler. I’m sure if you’ve been to any mall in America, you’ve seen it cooking and rotating; however, if you’ve never been to a Mediterranean country, you probably have not seen the real thing. In Grease it’s called Gyros, in Turkey it’s called Döner, in Lebanon it’ called Shawarma. It’s usually made out of lamb or chicken. The meat is never ground (as it’s here in the U.S.); the meat is usually thinly sliced and glued together by tail fat. In addition, there is usually a thick layer of fat that tops the cone shaped meat and constantly bastes it.
Since I don’t have a vertical broiler (and I’m sure most people don’t), I had to revise a way to use my grill rotisserie to make it work. This process is about 2 pages long, but don’t worry there are very few ingredients. If anyone is interested in this recipe, please let me know. I can e-mail it to you, or posted on this forum. I’m not sure how much we're allowed to post in any single post, but if they let me I can post here as well.

Oh yeah! I was eating a Gyro just a few days ago wondering what it would be like to grill my own Shewerma.
Can it be made in small batches? I'm probably the only one in my house who would like it.

Sure you can make a small batch, just use 2-3 Rib eye steaks.

BBcueZ - Try posting it here. That way we can all benefit and not have to bother you with multitudes of emails to recieve and send. Plus it will be all set for the future members searches.
If you have to split the recipe into multiple posts.

Sounds like you've been quite the traveler...
Where else have you been and what other food ideas can you share?

Here is the Recipe (Condensed) :
Horizontal Gyros/Shawarma/Döner
Ingredients:
3-4 lbs of lamb leg or shoulder- boned and rolled in shape of a roast
3-4 lbs of beef rib roast- boneless
1 lbs pork fat (fat-back or any non-smoked fat), lamb tail fat works best, but it’s hard to find.
1 32oz container of plain yogurt
Juice of 1 lemon
5 garlic cloves finely minced or mashed to paste like.
1 large onion or 2 mediums finely minced or mashed to paste like (food processor works best for this).
3 tbs of middle eastern 7 spice- or substitute with allspice
3 tbs of ground white pepper
4 tbs of pomegranate molasses- to substitute, use ½ cup of Worcestershire sauce plus ¼ cup concentrate pineapple juice.
Salt to taste
If you have a meat slicer at home, follow these directions; otherwise, ask your butcher to do it for you. Place the lamb, beef and the pork fat in the freezer for couple of hours until partially frozen (this makes the slicing process easier). Slice the meat into 1/8 of an inch slices (width-wise) they should look like thin steaks, and then set aside. Mix the yogurt with the lemon juice, garlic, onions, pomegranate molasses, and ½ of the dry spices. Rub the remaining of the dry spices over the meat slices as evenly as possible. Pour the yogurt over the lamb and the beef, cover tightly and refrigerate over night. Keep the pork fat separately at this point, but keep it cold.
One hour before cooking, take the meat out of the refrigerator. Using the rotisserie skewer, arrange the meat slice by alternating slices of beef, lamb and the pork fat. Arrange the slices as evenly as possible. The smaller slices should be at both end of the skewer and the larger slices in the middle (it should look like two cones put together). The fat slices should be small (they’re usually square in shape), and that’s the way they should be. You want the fat to stay near the center so it can baste the meat as long as possible. When the Gyro is cooked vertically, the fat usually sits on top of the meat and melts slowly and bastes the meat from top to bottom through out the cooking process. But since we’re cooking it horizontally, we’d want the fat mixed in with the meat and near the center. This way it serves the same purpose.

Finally, compact the meat together so it will bind and hold shape. Dry up the surface of the meat from any access marinade and sprinkle some of the spice rub if you wish. Set the grill on medium high to high for indirect grilling and place a foil pan below where the meats is going to be. Place the rotisserie skewer according to your manufactures instructions and start the cooking. If your grill has a rotisserie burner, then used it (this ideal).
Traditionally, the meat is not cooked all the way through. Instead, the surface of the meat is browned and sliced horizontally (in this case) into thin slices. So in essence, the meat is cooked in layers. The slices usually resemble pieces of fajita. The meat dripping that’s collected in the foil pan plays a very vital role in the next step.

If you want to serve the cooked meat the traditional way, then follow theses steps:

Sauce:
½ cup flat leaf parsley finely chopped
3 cups of plain yogurt
2 tbs Tahini sauce (sesame paste)
2 tbs lemon juice
1 clove of garlic finely minced
a dash of allspice
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients well, cover and refrigerate. If the mixture too thick, thin it out with some water. You can also use Tzaziki in place of this sauce.

Onion Relish:
3-4 medium size onions
3 tbs of Sumac
3 tbs of olive oil, butter or meat dripping
¼ tsp sugar
½ tsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Slice the onions into thin crescent shape slices. Sauté the onions in your chosen fat until soft and translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well and keep war. Traditionally the onion mixture is kept in the dripping pan. This way it will soak up as much of the flavor as possible and stay warm. You can omit this step if you’re worried about the fat.
Finally you will need some type of flat bread. Lavash works best, but pocket-less pita works will also work well. You will also need some kind of pickles and tomatoes, cucumber..Etc. and finely chopped parsley. Traditionally turnip pickles is used, but any kind will do.
To make the sandwich:
1- Dip the bread in the meat dripping and place on the grill for few seconds.
2- Spread 1 tbs of the sauce on the bread
3- Top with the onion relish
4- Place few slices of meat
5- Top the meat with pickles, tomatoes…
6- Finely place a generous amount of parsley on top and wrap the sandwich
7- Serve with your favorite beverage and enjoy.

Grand,
I've mostly been to Mediterranean countries and most of Europe. And since I love to cook and eat, I’m always on a look out for good food and recipes. If there’s any particular cuisine or recipe that you’re interested in, please let me know, and I might be able to help. I’ll try to post more recipes on international dishes. Maybe we can start a new post just for that.

Hey Z,

Our entire family loves Gyros. When we were in Germany we found them everywhere, just as you described. We also like the cucumber Tzaziki sauce you suggested. Thanks for the great recipe. I must confess, I think I've Copy & Pasted every recipe that you and Grand have posted. Haven't tried them all yet, but can't wait. I don't have a rotis yet, so I'll have to save this one.

BBcue-Z,
Thanks for sharing the recipe for Gyros. I'm in the same situation as Bob..no rotis, but will add that one to my collection of ideas for the future. Thanks again..

Pete

Thanks Z
As of right now I don't have any specific requests but I'm sure over time your travel experience and love of cooking good foor will benefit us all with many great ideas.
Glad you're here!

Thanks guys.
I hope you’ll enjoy the recipe. This is a great crowd pleaser. I often make it when entertaining bunch of folks. Everyone tends to gather around the grill and watch cook.
One thing I forgot to mentions, please don’t forget to use the forks that come with the rotisserie skewer. They should be pushed closely against the meat (on both ends) to hold it tight in place. I guess this goes without saying, but I thought I should mention it.

I don't have a rottiserrie yet. This sounds like a great reason to get one. I've always wondered how to make shawarma.
This discussion board gets more fascinating every day.

Thanks Z sounds awesome. I love those things, and as metioned have had them with the cucumber sauce only. Looking forward to trying yours. Now here's a question- HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE THESE THINGS. The latest version that I heard of is that Gyro is pronounced like hero, with a rolled R sound. Is this correct?

It’s pronounced Yee-rro (the R is rolled)

I was so close, I'm sure many readers will be glad that you cleared that up. Cheers.

I thought it was pronounced like "europe" minus the P sound. Your-O
I'll have to practice rolling my Rs.