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Shawarma vs doner vs gyro: what's the difference?
Three sandwiches, one invention. How shawarma, doner kebab and gyros are related, how they differ in meat, seasoning and sauce, and which ones are likely to be halal.
Side by side
| | Doner kebab | Shawarma | Gyros | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | From | Turkey (Ottoman Empire, 1800s) | The Arab Levant | Greece | | Name means | "Rotating" kebab | From Turkish çevirme, "turning" | "Turn" | | Usual meat | Lamb, beef, chicken | Lamb or mutton originally; now chicken, beef, turkey, veal | Pork in Greece; beef-lamb blend in the US | | Sauce | Varies by country | Toum with chicken, tahini with beef | Tzatziki | | With | Bread, salad, sometimes rice | Pita, pickles, sometimes fries | Pita, tomato, onion, fries |
What makes shawarma shawarma
Thin slices of marinated meat, stacked by hand on the spit, not a pressed loaf. Warm spices in the marinade. Then the sauce: toum for chicken, tahini for beef and lamb. Pickles are not optional.
How to order one, and where, is in the shawarma guide.
The halal question
- Shawarma at a halal restaurant is made from halal meat. That is the default across Dearborn.
- Doner at a Turkish or Middle Eastern halal shop, same.
- Gyro is the one to ask about. The cones of pressed beef and lamb sold to American diners and coney islands come from large processors, and most are not halal unless the box says so. Some halal restaurants serve a halal "gyro"; they will tell you.
A related one: a "chicken gyro" at a non-halal diner is still not halal chicken. The cut does not change the slaughter.
Sources (3)
Questions people ask
Is gyro halal?
Not by default. In Greece gyros is traditionally pork. In the United States it is usually a beef and lamb blend, which is halal only if the meat is halal-slaughtered. Ask, or look for a certifier.
Which came first, shawarma or doner?
Doner. The vertical rotisserie was invented in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century, and doner kebab is the parent dish. Shawarma and gyros both descend from it.
What does shawarma mean?
It comes from the Turkish word çevirme, meaning turning, for the rotating spit.
