Gyro (food)

Gyros (or gyro) is a Greek dish featuring meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, often accompanied by tomato, onion, fried potatoes, and tzatziki. The name derives from the Greek word γύρος, meaning "turn," which is a calque of the Turkish word döner. In Greece and Cyprus, authentic gyros is traditionally made with pork, though chicken is occasionally used; elsewhere, ground beef and lamb are common. The dish traces its origins to the 19th-century Ottoman Empire, where vertical spit-grilling of stacked meat was developed in Bursa. Following the 1922–23 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, Greeks from Asia Minor brought their variation to Greece. After World War II, lamb-based gyros appeared in Athens, likely introduced by Anatolian and Middle Eastern immigrants, though the Greek version eventually standardized as pork with tzatziki. By 1970, gyros wraps were a popular fast food in Athens, as well as in Chicago and New York City. In the early 1970s, several Greek-descended entrepreneurs in the Chicago area claimed to have introduced the first mass-produced gyros to the United States; at that time, vertical rotisseries were being mass-produced, but the meat stacks were still hand-made. In Greece, the meat is cut into thin, round slices, stacked on a spit with fat trimmings, and seasoned with spices like cumin, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. The cone-shaped stack rotates slowly before a heat source, with juices from upper parts basting the lower sections. The outer layer is sliced off in thin, crisp shavings when done. It is customarily served in oiled, lightly grilled pita with sliced tomatoes, chopped onions, fried potatoes, and often tzatziki, though ketchup or mustard may be used in northern Greece. Related dishes include Arab shawarma, Canadian donair, and Mexican al pastor, all derived from Turkish döner kebab.