Shawarma

Shawarma is a popular Middle Eastern street food that originated in the Levant during the Ottoman Empire, evolving from the vertical spit roasting technique first seen in nineteenth century doner kebab, credited to a Turkish butcher named Iskender in Bursa. Thin slices of marinated meat, traditionally lamb or mutton but today often chicken, turkey, beef or veal, are stacked in an inverted cone on a tall skewer and roasted slowly in front of a rotating heat source, with the outer layer shaved off with a long flat knife as it cooks. It is commonly served as a sandwich or wrap in a flatbread such as pita, shrak, laffa or lavash, topped with chopped vegetables and assorted condiments. Shawarma also spread abroad, most notably influencing the Mexican dish tacos al pastor after Lebanese immigrants brought the technique to Mexico in the early twentieth century.