Beef Shawarma

You might never have heard of shawarma- but I'll bet you've heard of gyros.  Think of shawarma as gyro's older, more 'mature' brother: less processing of the meat and flavored with a wider array of spices.  Although visually similar, the first bite will remind you that shawarma definitely hails from the Middle East, not from the gyro's homeland of Greece.  


When developing an original recipe, I've been trying to discipline myself to measure everything that goes into the dish, dutifully noting everything in a notebook.  My first attempt at shawarma was driven less by creative urges, and more by pure hunger.  As a result, I don't have a recipe to share.  I can't take any additional photographs, either, since I inhaled the thing within five minutes of the original [brief] photo shoot.


Although I can't tell you the exact quantities, I can share what ingredients went into preparing the meat.  Yogurt, lemon juice,  white vinegar, allspice, cardamom, white pepper, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder were combined, then mixed with thinly sliced beef to marinate.  Once all the flavors melded, the whole gamut was plopped onto a baking tray and broiled in the oven until browned on top.


The pita bread and hummus were 100% homemade as well.  Pita recipe can be found here, the hummus recipe here.