The Third-Best Shawarma in the World

I like to pick up new cookbooks when we travel, ideally something related to the area we're visiting. This is why I inexplicably came home with a Middle Eastern cookbook after visiting my cousin in St. Louis. We've enjoyed all the recipes we've made from it, even the not-very-successful Tunisian tuna brik (operator error, I assure you). There are quite a few snacky items, vegetable chips and such, and I love the storytelling in the introductions. There are a few recipes I've made just because I liked the story. 

Our hands-down favorite is a recipe for shawarma. In this house, we are shawarma snobs; we've been spoiled by the good stuff and have developed unfortunately high standards as a result (we discover this anew every time we try to eat Middle Eastern food outside of the metro Detroit area. I don't know why we keep trying. Surely other parts of the country have Lebanese grandmothers?). The Very Best Shawarma in the world comes from Mideast Oasis in Royal Oak, where Halim will sometimes make you a fresh cup of coffee and ply you with pastries while he cooks your shawarma to order. There are a lot of contenders for second-best, but I'll give this a solid third place which I think is pretty impressive considering it comes from a home kitchen. 

This recipe, fittingly titled The Home Shawarma Experience, does a fine job of satisfying my little food snobs. It doubled, triples, and quadruples beautifully and can be used for chicken or beef instead of lamb. Chop your meat and it fills a sandwich or tops a Flaming Moe*; use bone-in chicken thighs and you've got perfectly portioned buffet servings. I've yet to have leftovers of this no matter how much I make. The recipe is forgiving enough that I don't actually use measuring spoons anymore, and if your house has the misfortune to be dairy-free you can leave out the yogurt and just increase the cider vinegar and olive oil.  

Do please make this yourself. You'll be so happy you did. 

* Have I not mentioned the Flaming Moe? It's basically fattoush topped with mjadara and shawarma, based on an occasional special at the restaurant my sister used to work at. It's fabulous. 

Recipe adapted from New Middle Eastern Street Food by Sally Butcher. My version is much less informative and amusing.

The Third-Best Shawarma in the World 

For every 2 pounds of meat, mix together the following: 

1 cup plain yogurt 
6 cloves minced garlic (or equivalent amount of garlic paste, which is great when you're making 10 pounds of meat) 
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp allspice
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt 
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil

Mix all the ingredients together and marinate your meat in it for up to 24 hours. The recipe calls for lamb shoulder, but I almost always make chicken. Grill, broil, or saute the meat, depending on the cut of meat, time of year and/or personal inclination. One caveat: you can use chicken breasts for this, but chicken thighs are much, much tastier. 

Properly, this is wrapped in pita bread with garlic sauce and pickles and a little cabbage salad with slivered tomato and cucumber. It's just as good served alongside some rice pilaf, piled on the aforementioned Flaming Moe, or popped into a slow cooker for a buffet where it will make lots of people very happy.