SHAWARMA LAHMEH
LEBANON | SYRIA | JORDAN | PALESTINE
Before Syria descended into the tragic situation in which it has been since shortly after the uprising, I visited often, and when I went to Damascus, I never failed to go to Siddiq, a restaurant specializing in shawarma grilled over charcoal, no easy feat given that the shawarma grill is vertical. They had that on the menu, plus a few select mezze items. You just sat down and waited for the mezze plates to be served, before the sensational shawarma was brought to the table, very thinly sliced, with some bits crisp and others very moist, depending on whether they were sliced from the first layer or the second inner one, all piled on pita bread and covered with more pita to keep the meat warm. Siddiq’s was and still is the best shawarma I have ever had. I suspect the restaurant is still there as Damascus has been untouched by the civil war, and hopefully it will still be there once the war is over and I can return to visit.
The word shawarma comes from the Turkish çevirme, which means “to turn or rotate,” describing how it cooks, slowly rotating in front of a fire. Shawarma is basically a very large, fat “kebab” that can be made with lamb or chicken. The meat is sliced into wide, thin pieces, marinated overnight, and threaded onto a long skewer. Lamb shawarma has slices of tail fat in between every few layers of meat to keep the meat moist during grilling. For chicken shawarma, the skin is kept on the meat to keep it moist and tender. The skewer is fixed in front of a vertical grill and left to rotate over a moderate heat for 2 to 3 hours, or until the meat is cooked through. Even before the meat is cooked through, the shawarma vendor starts slicing the outer, cooked layer to order, piling the thin slivers of meat onto pita bread to make a sandwich with tomatoes, onions, pickles, herbs, and tahini sauce if it is lamb shawarma or garlic sauce (toum) if it is chicken. Shawarma is basically street food and it is not usually prepared at home, but here is a great adaptation I learned from my Lebanese butcher in London. You can substitute chicken, both dark and white meat, for the lamb, and use toum (see Note) instead of the tahini sauce.
SERVES 4 TO 6
FOR THE LAMB
1¾ pounds (800 g) boneless lamb shoulder, thinly sliced
2 medium onions (10½ ounces/300 g total), thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
¼ cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Lebanese 7-Spice Mixture
A few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
Sea salt and finely ground black pepper
FOR THE TAHINI SAUCE
½ cup (125 ml) tahini
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced to a fine paste
Sea salt
FOR THE SANDWICHES
2 to 3 round pita breads (about 8 inches/20 cm in diameter) or 4 to 6 oval ones
4 to 6 small firm-ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, halved and cut into very thin wedges
4 to 6 gherkins, thinly sliced lengthwise
Handful of mint leaves
A few sprigs flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
1. To prepare the lamb: Put the meat in a large bowl and add the onions, lemon juice, olive oil, spices, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste and mix well. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, make the tahini sauce: Put the tahini in a bowl. Alternating between the lemon juice and 6 tablespoons (90 ml) water, gradually whisk in the liquids—this is to make sure that you get the right balance of tartness while keeping the consistency of the sauce like that of creamy yogurt. The tahini will first thicken to a puree-like consistency before starting to loosen up again. If you decide to use less lemon juice, make up for the loss of liquid by adding a little more water or vice versa. Add the garlic and salt to taste. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
3. When the meat is ready, place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is very hot, add the meat and sauté for a couple of minutes, or until the meat is done to your liking.
4. To make the sandwiches: You can make 4 or 6 sandwiches depending on how generously filled you want them to be.
IF YOU ARE USING ROUND PITA BREADS: Tear them open at the seam to split them into separate disks—you can also use markouk or handkerchief bread like in the photo. Arrange equal quantities of meat down the middle of each disk. Garnish with equal quantities of tomato, onion, gherkins, and herbs and drizzle as much tahini sauce as you like, bearing in mind it will sog up the bread if you go heavy. Roll each sandwich tightly. Wrap the bottom half with a paper napkin and serve immediately.
IF YOU ARE USING OVAL PITA BREADS: Open them at one wide end to create a large pocket. Drizzle tahini sauce inside the bread, then fill with equal amounts of sandwich ingredients. Drizzle with more tahini if you want—oval pita is a lot thicker and can take it. Serve immediately.
NOTE: For an alternative to the tahini sauce, make toum by mincing 3 cloves garlic and grinding them to a fine paste with a little salt. Then drizzle in ⅓ cup (80 ml) extra-virgin olive oil the way you would with mayonnaise. To make this pungent dip a little milder, add 2 tablespoons labneh.