Editing Gyros

{{short description|Greek dish}}
{{About|the Greek dish|the moth genus|Gyros (moth)|other uses|Gyro (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Gyros
| image = Pita giros.JPG<!--Please discuss changes on the talk page-->
| image_size = 235px
| caption = Gyros in Greece, with meat, onions, tomato, lettuce, [[fries|fried potatoes]], and [[tzatziki]] rolled in a [[pita]]
| alternate_name = Gyro<ref name="What's Cooking">{{cite web |title=Gyro Sandwich History |url=https://whatscookingamerica.net/history/sandwiches/gyrosandwich.htm |website=What's Cooking America |date=21 May 2015 |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-date=18 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118182400/https://whatscookingamerica.net/history/sandwiches/gyrosandwich.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
| country = [[Greece]]
| region = 
| course = [[Main course]]
| type = [[Meat]] [[Wrap (food)|wrap]]
| served = Hot
| main_ingredient = [[Pita bread]], [[pork]], [[French fries|fried potatoes]], lettuce, tomato, onions,  [[tzatziki]]  or [[yogurt]]
| variations = [[Chicken (food)|Chicken]], ground [[beef]], or [[Lamb and mutton|lamb]] instead of pork
| calories = 
| other = 
}}
'''Gyros''', sometimes [[Anglicisation (linguistics)|anglicized]] as a '''gyro'''<ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/gyro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920210821/https://www.lexico.com/definition/gyro |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |title=gyro |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|gyro}}</ref><ref>"[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gyro Gyro] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503090054/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gyro |date=2022-05-03 }}". ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Cambridge University Press. 2022.</ref> ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|ɪər|oʊ|,_|ˈ|dʒ|ɪər|-|,_|ˈ|dʒ|aɪ|r|-}}; {{langx|el|γύρος|gýros/yíros|turn}}, {{IPA|el|ˈʝiros|pron}}), is [[meat]] cooked on a vertical [[rotisserie]], then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in [[pita bread]], along with other ingredients such as [[tomato]], [[onion]], [[French fries|fried potatoes]], and [[tzatziki]]. In Greece, it is normally made with [[pork]]<ref name="Simopoulos & Bhat 2000">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQgwVl22fXkC&pg=PA6 |title=Street foods |date=2000 |publisher=Karger |isbn=9783805569279 |editor-last=Simopoulos |editor-first=Artemis P. |editor-link=Artemis Simopoulos |location=Basel |pages=6 |oclc=41711932 |editor-last2=Bhat |editor-first2=Ramesh Venkataramana Bhat |access-date=2019-03-17 |archive-date=2023-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307201333/https://books.google.com/books?id=QQgwVl22fXkC&pg=PA6 |url-status=live }}</ref> or sometimes with [[Chicken as food|chicken]], whilst ground beef and lamb are also used in other countries.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Segal |first=David |date=2009-07-15 |title=The Gyro's History Unfolds |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/15gyro.html |access-date=2023-11-07 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="The New York Times" />

==Name==
The name comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|el|γύρος}} ({{Transliteration|el|gýros}}, {{gloss|circle}} or {{gloss|turn}}). It is a [[calque]] of the [[Turkish language|Turkish]] {{Transliteration|tr|döner}}, from {{Transliteration|tr|dönmek}}, also meaning {{gloss|turn}}.<ref>Babiniotis, {{lang|el|Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας}}</ref>

In Greek, "{{Transliteration|el|gyros|italic=no}}" is a [[Nominative case|nominative]] singular noun, but the final 's' is often interpreted in English usage as plural,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/gyro|title=Gyro |website=dictionary.cambridge.org|language=en|access-date=2019-07-14|archive-date=2019-07-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714082641/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/gyro|url-status=live}}</ref> leading to the singular [[back-formation]] "gyro".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/greek-101-6435779|title=Greek 101|first=Jay|last=Francis|date=2009-01-09|website=Houston Press|access-date=2019-10-28|archive-date=2021-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608105153/https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/greek-101-6435779|url-status=live}}</ref> The standard Greek and English pronunciation is {{IPA|el|ˈʝiɾos|}}. Some English speakers pronounce it {{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|aɪ|r|oʊ}}, because the word is a [[Heteronym (linguistics)|heteronym]] of the related word "[[wikt:gyro|gyro]]".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cutolo |first=Morgan |date=24 July 2024 |title=Gyro Food Pronunciation: What Is the Correct Way? |url=https://www.rd.com/article/how-to-pronounce-gyro/ |access-date=16 October 2024 |website=rd.com}}</ref>

In Athens and other parts of southern Greece, the skewered meat dish elsewhere called [[souvlaki|{{Transliteration|el|souvlaki}}]] is known as {{Transliteration|el|kalamaki}}, while {{Transliteration|el|souvlaki}} is a term used generally for gyros, and similar dishes.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Joyce-Ann|last1=Gatsoulis|title=Night+Day Athens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdp1BOQIR40C&pg=PA43|publisher=ASDavis Media Group|date=2006|isbn=9780976601302|via=Google Books|access-date=2019-10-28|archive-date=2023-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307201324/https://books.google.com/books?id=vdp1BOQIR40C&pg=PA43|url-status=live}}</ref> In other regions, for example in [[Thessaloniki]], {{Transliteration|el|gyros}} only refers to the meat on the spit, and what English speakers refer to as a "gyros wrap" is called a {{gloss|sandwich}} ({{lang|el|σάντουιτς}}).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Θεσσαλονίκη VS Αθήνα. Όταν θέλεις να παραγγείλεις ένα σουβλάκι και δεν μπορείς! |url=https://minisite.marnellos.gr/gr/blog/thessaloniki-vs-athina--otan-theleis-na-paraggeileis-ena-soublaki-kai-den-mporeis-187 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Minisite Marnellos.gr |language=el}}</ref>

===Similar dishes===
Gyros is made in a similar manner to other dishes such as the Arab [[shawarma|{{Transliteration|ar|shawarma}}]], Canadian [[donair]], Mexican [[al pastor|{{lang|es|al pastor|nocat=y}}]], and the Turkish [[doner kebab|{{Transliteration|tr|döner kebab}}]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Food and Language: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2009|last=Kremezi|first=Aglaia|publisher=Prospect Books|year=2010|isbn=9781903018798|editor-last=Hosking|editor-first=Richard|volume=28|location=Totnes|pages=203–204|chapter=What's in the Name of a Dish?|oclc=624419365|author-link=Aglaia Kremezi|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ilvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT202}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Dönerci, 1855.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|The earliest known photo of ''[[doner kebab]]'' (meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie) by [[James Robertson (photographer)|James Robertson]], 1855, [[Ottoman Empire]]]]
Grilling a vertical spit of stacked meat and slicing it off as it cooks was developed in [[Bursa]]<ref name="auto">Kenneth F. Kiple, Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas, eds., ''Cambridge World History of Food'', Cambridge, 2000. {{ISBN|0-521-40216-6}}. Vol. 2, p. 1147</ref> in the 19th century in the [[Ottoman Empire]]. After the [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|1922–23 population exchange between Greece and Turkey]], the Greeks brought their variation with them to Greece. Following [[World War II]], gyros made with lamb (called shawarma) was present in Athens.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=(unknown title) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qp8RAAAAIAAJ&q=doner+kebab|magazine=Sports Illustrated|volume=3|pages=116|publisher=Time, Incorporated|date=1955|via=Google Books|access-date=2020-10-08|archive-date=2023-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307201324/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qp8RAAAAIAAJ&q=doner+kebab|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> It was likely introduced by immigrants from [[Anatolia]] and the [[Middle East]].<ref name="Simopoulos & Bhat 2000"/><ref>{{cite book|first1=Alan|last1=Davidson|title=The Oxford Companion to Food|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIIeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA259|publisher=OUP Oxford|date=21 August 2014|isbn=978-0-19-104072-6|via=Google Books}}</ref> The Greek version is normally made with pork and served with [[tzatziki]], and became known as gyros.<ref name="kremezi">{{Cite conference |last1=Kremezi |first1=Aglaia |author-link1=Aglaia Kremezi |date=2010 |editor-last=Hosking |editor-first=Richard |title=What's in the Name of a Dish? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ilvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT202 |conference=[[Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery]] |publisher=[[Prospect Books]] |pages=203–204 |isbn=978-1-903018-79-8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115045842/https://books.google.com/books?id=3ilvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT202 |archive-date=2023-01-15 |access-date=2018-10-19 |via=Google Books |book-title=Food and Language: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="dizikirikis">Γιάκωβος Σ. Διζικιρικής, Να ξετουρκέψουμε τη γλώσσα μας 'Let Us De-Turkify our Language', Athens 1975, p. 62, proposes substituting {{lang|el|γυριστό}} for {{lang|el|ντονέρ}}, but ''The New York Times'' was already using the word ''gyro'' in English in 1971 (4 Sept. 23/1) according to the ''OED'', 1993 online edition, [http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/243308 ''s.v.'']</ref>

[[File:Pitagyros_mit_Beilagen_und_Bier_(Gaststätte).jpg|thumb|Gyros plate]]
By 1970, gyros [[Wrap (food)|wraps]] were already a popular [[fast food]] in Athens, as well as in Chicago and New York City.<ref name="Glaser & Snyder 1970">{{cite magazine |first1=Milton|last1=Glaser|first2=Jerome|last2=Snyder|date=7 December 1970 |title=Spit and Image |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBAZFl0GHqUC&pg=PA88 |magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |publisher=New York Media, LLC |access-date=22 January 2024|via=Google Books|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115045842/https://books.google.com/books?id=tBAZFl0GHqUC&pg=PA88|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Food Timeline: history notes--sandwiches">{{cite news |url=http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsandwiches.html#gyros |title=The Gyro, a Greek Sandwich, Selling Like Hot Dogs |date=September 4, 1971 |newspaper=The New York Times |pages=23 |access-date=February 22, 2016 |archive-date=March 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323175224/http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsandwiches.html#gyros |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/15gyro.html?_r=0| title=The Gyro's History Unfolds| author=David Segal| date=July 14, 2009| newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=June 4, 2016| archive-date=July 21, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721103623/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/15gyro.html?_r=0| url-status=live}}</ref> At that time, although vertical rotisseries were starting to be mass-produced in the US by Gyros Inc.<ref name="Glaser & Snyder 1970" /> of Chicago, the stacks of meat were still hand-made. There are several claimants to have introduced the first mass-produced gyros to the United States, all based in the Chicago area in the early 1970s, and of Greek descent. One of them, Peter Parthenis, has said that the mass-produced gyro was first conceptualized by John and Margaret Garlic; John Garlic was a Jewish car salesman who later ran a restaurant featuring live dolphins.<ref name="The New York Times"/>

The Halifax donair in Canada which was based on the Greek gyros was invented in the 1970s by Peter Gamoulakos. Originally from Greece, he started selling Greek gyros (a pita stuffed with grilled lamb and tzatziki) from his restaurant located off the Bedford Highway.<ref>{{Cite web |last=corusadmin |date=2022-04-27 |title=The Delicious History Of The Halifax Donair |url=https://www.foodnetwork.ca/article/the-delicious-history-of-the-halifax-donair/ |access-date=2023-08-20 |website=Food Network Canada |language=en-CA}}</ref>

==Preparation==
[[File:Gyros_C5878.jpg|thumb|Gyros preparation]]
In Greece, gyros is normally made with pork, though other meats are used in other countries.<ref name="kremezi" /> Chicken is common, and lamb or beef may be found more rarely.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} Typical American mass-produced gyros are made with finely ground beef mixed with lamb.<ref name="The New York Times"/>

For hand-made gyros, meat is cut into approximately round, thin, flat slices, which are then stacked on a spit and seasoned. Fat trimmings are usually interspersed. Spices may include [[cumin]], [[oregano]], [[thyme]], [[rosemary]], and others.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} The pieces of meat, in the shape of an inverted cone, are placed on a tall vertical [[rotisserie]], which turns slowly in front of a source of heat or [[grilling|broiler]]. As the cone cooks, lower parts are basted with the juices running off the upper parts. The outside of the meat is sliced vertically in thin, crisp shavings when done.<ref name="kremezi" /><ref name="Albala 2011">{{cite book|first1=Ken|last1=Albala|title=Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTo6c_PJWRgC&pg=RA3-PA168|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2011 |isbn=9780313376269|via=Google Books}}</ref>

The rate of roasting can be adjusted by varying the intensity of the heat, the distance between the heat and the meat, and the speed of spit rotation, thus allowing the cook to adjust for varying rates of consumption.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

In Greece, it is customarily served in an oiled, lightly grilled piece of pita, rolled up with sliced tomatoes, chopped onions, lettuce, and [[french fries|fried potatoes]], sometimes topped with [[tzatziki]], or, sometimes in [[northern Greece]], ketchup or mustard.<ref name="Kraig & Taylor Sen 2013">{{cite book|first1=Bruce|last1=Kraig|first2=Colleen|last2=Taylor Sen|title=Street Food around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XCjAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=9 September 2013|isbn=9781598849554|via=Google Books|access-date=21 September 2019|archive-date=7 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307201347/https://books.google.com/books?id=9XCjAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A guide to ordering "gyros" in Greece |url=https://www.itinari.com/a-guide-to-ordering-gyros-in-greece-xfr8 |website=Itinari |date=26 May 2019 |access-date=12 December 2019 |archive-date=12 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212061503/https://www.itinari.com/a-guide-to-ordering-gyros-in-greece-xfr8 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Great Street Food in Thessaloniki: A Round-the-Clock Guide |url=http://www.greece-is.com/great-street-food-thessaloniki-round-clock-guide/ |website=Greece Is |date=4 July 2017 |access-date=12 December 2019 |archive-date=12 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212061501/http://www.greece-is.com/great-street-food-thessaloniki-round-clock-guide/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Greece|Food|}}
* [[List of Greek dishes]]
* [[List of kebabs]]
* [[List of spit-roasted foods]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}

* {{Wiktionary-inline|gyros}}

{{Cuisine of Greece}}
{{sandwiches}}
{{Street food}}

[[Category:Arab cuisine]]
[[Category:Fast food]]
[[Category:Flatbread dishes]]
[[Category:Greek cuisine]]
[[Category:Greek words and phrases]]
[[Category:Levantine cuisine]]
[[Category:Meat dishes]]
[[Category:Mediterranean cuisine]]
[[Category:Middle Eastern grilled meats]]
[[Category:National dishes]]
[[Category:Sandwiches]]
[[Category:Spit-cooked foods]]
[[Category:Greek-American cuisine]]