Shashlik
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Infobox food Shashlik, or shashlyck (Template:Langx shashlykTemplate:Pronunciation), is a dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat, similar to or synonymous with shish kebab. It is known traditionally by various other names in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia,<ref name="Pokhlebkin_cuisines"/><ref name="Culture and Life 1982" /> and from the 19th century became popular as shashlik across much of the Russian Empire and nowadays in former Soviet Union republics.<ref name="Kraig & Taylor Sen 2013">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Oxford Companion">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Etymology and historyEdit
The word shashlik or shashlick entered English from the Russian Template:Transliteration, of Turkic origin.<ref name="AH Dictionary">American Heritage Dictionary Entry: shashlik</ref> In Turkic languages, the word shish means skewer, and shishlik is literally translated as "skewerable". The word was coined from the Template:Langx ('spit') by the Zaporozhian Cossacks and entered Russian in the 18th century, from there spreading to English and other European languages.<ref name="Pokhlebkin_cuisines">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Culture and Life 1982">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=starling-1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Prior to that, the Russian name for meat cooked on a skewer was Template:Transliteration, from Template:Transliteration, 'spit'.<ref name="Culture and Life 1982" /> Shashlik did not reach Moscow until the late 19th century.<ref>Владимир Гиляровский. Москва и москвичи, гл. Трактиры. 1926 (Vladimir Gilyarovsky. Moscow and Muscovites. 1926)</ref> From then on, its popularity spread rapidly; by the 1910s it was a staple in St Petersburg restaurants and by the 1920s it was already a pervasive street food all over urban Russia.
PreparationEdit
Shashlik was originally made of lamb, but nowadays it is also made of pork, beef, chicken or venison, depending on local preferences and religious observances.<ref name="Kraig & Taylor Sen 2013" /><ref name="Pokhlyobkin_Dict">Шашлык. In: В. В. Похлёбкин, Кулинарный словарь от А до Я. Москва, Центрполиграф, 2000, Template:ISBN (William Pokhlyobkin, Culinary Dictionary. Moscow, Tsentrpoligraf, 2000; Russian)</ref> The skewers are either threaded with meat only, or with alternating pieces of meat, fat, and vegetables, such as bell pepper, onion, mushroom and tomato. In Iranian cuisine, meat for shashlik (as opposed to other forms of shish kebab) is usually in large chunks,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while elsewhere the form of medium-size meat cubes is maintained making it similar to brochette. The meat is marinated overnight in a mostly acidic marinade like vinegar, dry wine or sour fruit/vegetable juice with the addition of onions, garlic, herbs and other spices.<ref>Marinade recipes for shashlik at RusslandJournal.de</ref>Template:Better source needed
While it is not unusual to see shashlik today listed on the menu of restaurants, it is more commonly sold in many areas in the form of fast food by street vendors who roast the skewers on a mangal over wood, charcoal, or coal. It is also cooked in outdoor environments during social gatherings, similarly to barbecue in English-speaking countries.
Despite the simplicity of preparing shashlik, the process of frying meat over an open fire can cause inconvenience for residents of apartment buildings.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
- List of kebabs
- Satay, a similar dish from Indonesia
- Yakitori, Japanese variety of skewered meat