Kebab

Left to right: Chenjeh Kabab, Kabab Koobideh, Jujeh Kabab in an Afghan restaurant.

Kebab (also written as kebap, kabob, kibob) refers to a variety of grilled/broiled meat dishes in Middle Eastern cuisine. Kebabs usually consist of lamb and beef, though particular styles of kebab have chicken or fish. Pork is never used for kebabs by Muslims or Jews because of the religious prohibition on the meat, but is sometimes used by non-Muslim or non-Jewish sellers. In English, kebab by itself usually refers to shish kebab.

Etymology

The word kabab (کباب) is ultimately from Arabic or Persian but originally meant fried meat, not grilled meat. In the 14th century dictionary Lisdan al'Arab, kebab is defined to be synonomous with tabahajah, a Persian word for a dish of fried meat pieces. The Persian word was considered more high-toned in the medieval period, and as a result, kebab was used infrequently in Arabic books of that time. Only in the Turkish period, with the appearance of the phrase shish kebab, did kebab gain its current meaning, whereas earlier siwa had been the Arabic word for grilled meat. However, kebab still retains its original meaning in the names for stew-like dishes such as tas kebab (bowl kebab).

Shish kebab

Shish kebab (Turkish: şiş kebap) is a dish consisting of small cubes of meat threaded on a skewer (şiş in Turkish) that are grilled or roasted. Any kind of meat may be used, and fruit or vegetables are often placed on the skewer as well. Typical vegetables included are eggplant, tomato, bell pepper, onion and mushrooms. The phrase literally means 'skewer of grilled meat' in Turkish.

In English, the word kebab usually refers to shish kebab. In its current meaning, the phrase is essentially Turkish in origin, and tradition has it that the dish was invented by medieval Turkic soldiers who used their swords to grill meat over open-field fires. However, some experts contend that the dish has been native to the Near East since ancient times. Indeed, there exist pictures of Byzantine Greeks preparing shish kebabs, and a food described in Homer's Odyssey also bears a close resemblance. It has been speculated that shish kebab's origins lie in the short supply of ready fuel in the Near East, which made the cooking of large foods difficult. Moreover, the urban nature of civilization there made it easy to obtain small cuts of meat at a butcher's shop.

Ibn Battuta records that shish kebab was served in the royal houses of India since at least the Sultanate period, and even commoners would enjoy it for breakfast with naan.

Döner kebab

İskender kebap, the original döner kebab invented in Bursa, Turkey.

Main article: Döner kebab

Döner kebab, literally "rotating meat" in Turkish, is sliced lamb or chicken loaf which is slowly roasted on a vertical rotating spit. It is similar to gyros, shawarma, and Taco al pastor. Döner kebab is most popularly served in pita bread, as it is best known, with salad, but is also served in a dish with a salad and bread or French fries on the side, or used for Turkish pizzas called pide or "kebabpizza". Take-out döner kebab or shawarma restaurants are common in some parts of Europe. Döner kebab is said to be the best-selling fast food in Germany, Poland and Romania as well as being popular in the UK, France, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Italy, and Australia. Take-out gyros are popular in the United States, where beef and lamb are typically used; shawarma is available in ethnic neighborhoods, but döner kebab is mostly unknown outside of large cities like New York City.

In the UK kebabs are most popularly eaten after a night out and many kebab shops will do their main business in the hours around closing time for local pubs and clubs.

Kebab ingredients represent a variety of food groups: bread (cereals group), cabbage and lettuce (vegetables group), tomatoes (fruit group), creamy herb sauce (dairy group), oil (fat group), and of course the döner meat (meat group); though one might consider the meat and vegetable groups misbalanced.

Some kebab variants

Döner kebab as served in Germany

Typical fast food version of the Alanya kebab

A Norwegian Döner-kebab

• Biryani kebab
• Samak kebab - grilled fish on a stick
• Senjeh lebab
• Shish tawook or Shish Taouk - yogurt marinated chicken grilled on a stick (şiş tavuk in Turkish)
• Shishleek - a term with various uses: in Iran it refers to grilled baby lamb chops (usually from the leg), typically marinated; in Palestine, to grilled pieces of lamb, and in Israel, to grilled turkey.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and India

• Chapli kabab - delicacy of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Marinated beef in spices and grilled on skewers.
• Chenjeh Kabab- Kabab of Afghanistan. Originated from southeast Afghanistan, marinated in a variety of herbs and spices.
• Jujeh Kabab- Kabab of Afghanistan.
• Kabab Koobideh- Kabab of Afghanistan.
• Lola kabab/Gola Kabab - Afghanistan/Pakistan- rolled meatballs originated in Kandahar and invented by Pashtuns.
• Seekh kabab - Afghanistan/Pakistan/India - made of minced meat with spices and grilled on skewers. It is cooked in a tandoor, and is often served with chutneys or mint sauce. It is often included in tandoori sampler platters, which contain a variety of tandoor cooked dishes. A seekh kebab can also be served in a naan bread much like döner kebab.
• Seena kabab - Afghanistan- Rotesseried grilled chicken breast and drumsticks.
• Shami kabab - Afghanistan/India/Pakistan - it is claimed that it originated in Syria.
• Tandoori kebab - Indian/Pakistani - chunks or strips of meat marinated in spices and yogourt.

Xinjiang, China

• Uyghur: Kewap, Chinese: 羊肉串 Yangrouchuan - The most popular Xinjiang dish in China, being slices of mutton pierced on metal (or wood or bamboo) skewers, grilled on a coal-fired barbecue, and served with cumin and chilli paste.

Iran

• Berenj Goje Kabab
• Chenjeh kabab - Grilled lamb prepared similar to shish kebab, without the vegetables
• Chelow kabab - (rice with kebap) is one of the most common forms of serving kebab in Iran which combines a variety of Persian kebabs with saffroned Basmati rice, lavash (a paper-thin bread), grilled tomato, raw onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and sumac and often a side of salad shirazi, mast o khiyar and doogh (nowadays carbonated). An old Iranian tradition is to break a raw egg yolk over the rice, along with plenty of butter, just before serving, but not many follow this tradition these days anymore.
• Jujeh kabab - Grilled chicken on skewers, in Iran and Afghanistan.
• Kabab bareh - Grilled lamb, typically marinated in yogurt with parsley.
• Kabab Barg - Grilled marinated sirloin.
• Kebab Kermanshahi
• Kabab Isphahani
• Kabab Koobideh - Ground beef or lamb (usually sirloin), often mixed with parsley and chopped onions.
• Kabab loghmeh - Minced lamb meatballs first fried and the grilled over charcoal fire, eaten with chopped parsley, chopped onions, and sumac. A summer outing favorite.
• Kabab soltani - Combination of kabab koobideh and kabab barg.
• Kabab Shirazi
• Dandeh Kebab
• Kabab Torsh - (Gilan - Northern Iran) Also called (tursh-e-kabab) grilled beef marinated in a mixture of pomegranate juice, crushed walnuts, parsley, crushed garlic, and olive oil.
• Kabab Vaziri
• Kebab va Naan
• Loghme Kebab
• Pers Kebab
• Sonati Kebab
• Kebab Jigar-o del-o gholveh
• Kebab Mahitabeh
• Kebab Kurdi -ground lamb or beef,onions,garlic,tomatoes
• Kebab Shamshiri -it's huge kabab,kabab-barg on side of skewer and kabab-kubideh otherside
• Kabab Hosseini -lamb or beef cooked on skewers with onions, tomatoes and green peppers
• Maahi Kabab barbequed fish with lime juice, olive oil, saffron, and herbs
• Kabab digy Pan Kabab
• Kabab-e donbalan Lamb Fries Kabab
• Kabab Tursh sour Kabab
• Kabab Rashti or * Kabab Shomali - include almond & pistachio & barberry

Lebanon and Syria

• Kabab halabi a kind of kebab served with a spicy tomato sauce, very common in Syria and Lebanon, named after the city of Aleppo (Halab).

Turkey

• Adana kebab - Kebab meat with chili, associated with Adana region although very popular all over Turkey.
• Alinazik kebabı - Ground meat kebap margarined in a saucepan, added with garlic, yogurt and eggplants.
• Bahçıvan kebabı 'gardener's kebab' - Boneless lamb shoulder mixed with chopped onions and tomato paste.
• Beyti kebabı - Minced lamb roasted with a special spice mix, and a touch of garlic, traced back to the famous kebab house Beyti in İstanbul and particularly popular in Turkey's larger cities.
• Buğu kebabı 'steamed kebap' - Cooked in low heat until the meat releases its moisture and reabsorbs it.
• Cağ kebabı 'spoke kebab' - Cubes of lamb roasted first on a cağ (a horizontal rotating spit) and then on a skewer, a specialty of Erzurum region with recently rising popularity.
• Ciğerli kağıt kebabı 'liver paper kebab' - Lamb liver kebap mixed with meat and marinated with thyme, parsley and dill.
• Çardak kebabı 'arbor kebab' - Stuffed lamb meat in a crepe.
• Çökertme kebabı - Sirloin veal kebap stuffed with yogurt and potatoes.
• Çömlek kebabı 'earthenware bowl kebab' - Meat and vegetable casserole (called as güveç in Turkish) with eggplant, carrots, shallots, beans, tomatoes and green pepper.
• Çöp kebabı 'small skewer kebab' - A specialty of Selçuk near Ephesus, pounded boneless meat with tomatoes and garlic marinated with black pepper, thyme and oil on wooden skewers.
• Hünkari kebap 'Sultan's kebab' - Sliced lamb meat mixed with hünkar beğendi, basil, thyme, daphne and special garlic sauce.
• İskender kebap - Döner kebap served with yoghurt, tomato sauce and butter, originated in Bursa.
• İslim kebap 'steam kebab' - Another version of the aubergine kebab without its skin, marinated in sunflower oil.
• Kofte kebab or Shish köfte - minced lamb meatballs with herbs, often including parsley and mint, on a stick, grilled.
• Kuyu kebabı 'pit kebab' - Prepared from the goat it is special for Aydın region, similar to tandır kebabı.
• Kuzu incik kebabı 'lamb shank kebab' - Lamb shanks mixed with peeled eggplants and chopped tomatoes, cream, salt and pepper.
• Kuzu şiş - Shish prepared with marinated milk-fed lamb meat.
• Manisa kebabı - This Manisa region version of the kebab is smaller and flat size shish meat on the sliced pide bread, flavored with butter, and stuffed with tomato, garlic and green pepper.
• Orman kebabı 'forest kebab' - Lamb meat on the bone and cut in large pieces mixed with carrots, potatoes and peas.
• Patates kebabı 'potato kebab' - Beef or chicken mixed with potatoes, onions, tomato sauce and bay leaves.
• Patlıcan kebabı 'aubergine kebab' - Special kebap meat marinated in spices and served with aubergines, hot pide bread and a yoghurt sauce.
• Ramazan kebabı 'Ramadan kebab' - Meat mixed with yogurt, tomato and garlic stuffed with fresh mint or garnish on Pide bread.
• Susuz kebap 'waterless kebab' - Drained excess water from the meat rubbed with salt and cinnamon in saucepan.
• Şiş kebabı 'shish kebab' - prepared with fish,lamb or chicken meat on thin metal or reed rods, grilled.
• Urfa kebabı - From Urfa, similar to Adana Kebab, but not spicy.
• Tandır kebabı 'tandoor kebab': Lamb pieces (sometimes a whole lamb) baked in an oven called tandır, which requires a special way of cooking for hours. Served with bread and raw onions.
• Talaş kebabı 'sawdust kebab' - Diced lamb, mixed with grated onions, brown meat mixed with flour dough.
• Tas kebabı 'bowl kebab' - It is stewed kebabs in a bowl, begins with the cooking of the vegetables in butter in a method called yaga vurmak, "butter-infused," before the meat itself is cooked in the same place.
• Tavuk şiş - Shish prepared with marinated chicken.
• Testi kebabı 'earthenware jug kebab' - Ingredients are similar to çömlek kebabı, prepared in testi instead of güveç.Generally in Central Anatolia and West-Mid. Black Sea region.
• Tokat kebabı - Associated with Tokat region, it is made with the veal marinated with olive oil, aubergine, tomatoes, and special Pide bread.

Sweden

• Kebabpizza - Kebabpizza is a standard pizza with tomato sauce and cheese, with the addition of kebab meat. A yogurt based sauce is usually put on top (sometimes with garlic and/or chili or a milder variety). Other ingredients can be fresh tomatoes and/or sallad, mushrooms or almost any other standard pizza toppings.
• Kebabrulle - Kebabrulle is a rolled kebab, made of pizza bread, kebab meat, salad, dressing and then rolled. Similar rolls are also served in the rest of Scandinavia and Finland, under the name "rullekebab" (Norway, Denmark) and "rullakebab" (Finland) respectively.

Similar dishes

Anticuchos (Andean States), Brochette (French), Ćevapi (Balkans), Espetada (Portuguese), mtsvadi (Georgia), Souvlaki (Greek), kebakko (Finland), Satay (Southeast Asian), Shashlik (Russian), Yakitori (Japanese), Rablóhús (Hungarian), Frigărui (Romania), Spiedies (New York State), Spiedino (Italian cuisine), Suya (Nigerian cuisine), Kkochi (Cuisine of Korea), Sosatie (Cuisine of South Africa).

External links

• Turkish Kebabs, at TurkishCook.com
• Kebab Recipes Pakistani Kebab Recipes @ KhanaPakana.Com
• Turkish Recipes, Collection of various Turkish food
• Photos of different Iranian Kebabs
• The Chili Source, has images of several types of kebabs
• Tundi kebabs