Aylesbury, England

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by spudcon

Sundae, does the shop that sells Oddfellows Arms sell his legs too?

I'm afraid you are confusing Dominos with a kebab shop.

[spudcon]

What is that thing?

[Pie]

Kebab.
Think of carving thin slices off a vertical meatloaf on a spit.
It's often lamb-based, highly seasoned.
Serve on pita, sauce with cucumber-yogurt sauce.

[busterb]

Looks like Gyro to me.

[jinx]

Right, from buster's link

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the name gyros is not widely known; the Turkish "döner kebab" is more common, and the general term "kebab" is more common still. However, soldiers ("squaddies") who have served on the British bases in Cyprus often refer wistfully to the delights of gyros. Doner are a very popular post-pub/nightclub food with many high streets in the UK having a kebab house. The meat on the rotisserie is usually a poor quality ground-meat concoction, rather than the slices of actual meat used in Greece.
These kebab shops were initially primarily owned by Turkish Cypriots, hence the use of the dry, hard "pocket" Cypriot pita in place of the typically doughy, more naan-like Greek pita. The small pocket pitas are difficult to fill without breaking, and so the dish is usually served as a loose assortment in a polystyrene container. Tzatziki is rare, and replaced by generic garlic and/or chili sauce.

[edit] United States

Gyros were introduced to the Chicago area in 1968,[6][7][8] and have since spread to all parts of the country. In the United States, gyros are usually made from sliced lamb, minced beef or possibly a combination of the two. Chicken is a common alternative in many restaurants serving gyros. The pita resembles a Greek 'plain' pita. The most common fillings are generally tomato and onion. The sauce is usually tzatziki, sometimes called "Cucumber", "Yogurt", or "White" sauce. These sandwiches are often served in luncheonettes or diners.
In the United States, many restaurants (and even Greek-American festivals) sell gyros with meat which is pre-formed into strips (as though they had been sliced from the rotisserie) and frozen to meet USDA health standards. Gyro meat is essentially seasoned lamb or beef and sometimes mixed with pork. Some gyro meat is cooked on a rotating vertical spit in the same fashion as Doner Kebab. Some establishments, serving varied menus, choose to grill or pan fry individual strips of the gyro meat to prevent waste.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Chicago Gyros.

[Sundae]

Corrected for accuracy:

The small pocket pitas are difficult to fill without breaking, but staff in kebab shops are experts and have no trouble. The dish is very occasionally served as a loose assortment in a polystyrene container with chips instead of pita, but this has to be asked for specifically. Many shops also offer the option of an Indian style nann, in which the meat and salad is wrapped, althoug it is a more expensive option. Kebabs are always served with full salad unless otherwise specified and a choice of garlic and/or chili sauce.

A small point of amusement - the proper contraction of kebab is 'bab.
This is also Northern for poo.
Therefore the sentence, "I was out on the lash last night and ended up having a great big bab" can be taken more than one way.

Kebabs are usually called donners though.
Damn. Just for the point of education, I might just have to have one over the weekend!

[Perry Winkle]

My favorite chip/kebab/pizza joint in Newcastle gives you the option of chips or salad. But they always throw that soggy-ass pita in there. Sadly neither the garlic or chili sauce taste like much, so you always have to get both for any reasonable flavor.

[Sundae]

Ah well, Newcastle is a foreign country

I've yet to reaccquaint myself with the 'babs here, but the ones in Leicester and London... you could taste the garlic sauce for two days. And enjoy the chilli sauce twice, lets put it that way

My evil ex took me to his favourite kebab shop in Nottingham when we were there to visit his family. He'd raved and raved about their kebabs for ages. He even told a story (ad nauseum) about turning his saintly vegetarian ex back onto meat again just from the smell of his kebab from that shop. So we had one. It was okay. Nothing special. I guess it's all down to what you're used to.

My favourite old shop is right opposite St Josephs at the bottom of the High Street. I might get Mum & Dad to pick me one up after mass on Saturday night! But perhaps it was my favourite because the owner used to spoil me. The first of a long line of fast food outlets which would treat me by feeding me up when I quite obviously didn't need it! I think it's because even if I'm drunk I still say please and thank you and treat them with respect.

[DanaC]

hang on....'bab' is northern for poo? Nobody told me...unless your counting Nottingham as 'northern'?

[Sundae]

Mem, I've asked my parents about the environs - I'm printing off your post for them to read.

In the meantime - back to kebabs
I was holding out pretty well... then my sister, niece and nephew came over this afternoon. They had all had kebabs for lunch. Well, it's half term.

That was it - it was meant to be. I got Dad to drive me up before dinner - Mum succumbed as well, although she had chicken, while I had that old standby, the donner.

Perry, you were right. The garlic had some pungency (I can taste it now) but the chilli didn't even raise a tingle. The sausage and chicken casserole I made last night had more heat and flavour!

Anyway, documented below.

1) OOOH! The anticipation!
2) 'Babs on plates - mine is closer to the camera.

[Sundae]

And the yumminess transferred to my plate, ready for the second stage of its journey.
Bellybound.

[be-bop]

Chav food ......
I thought people only ate Kebabs at chucking out time when pissed

[Sundae]

I know, I know.

It's received wisdom. People have often said to me, "... like kebabs - you can't eat them sober...!" only to have me reply, "I do. I like them!" Which sorta leaves them nowhere to go

I figure they're good enough for half the Meditteranean countries, they're good enough for me!

Although I woke up with kebab mouth (it's the raw onions) and am now doing very meaty farts. TMI? Sorry.

[Perry Winkle]

Hey, I love kebabs too, and I don't drink.

I've been wracking my brain about this, and I still can't remember. What is the slang term for people from Sunderland?