Paisano: Schawarma

In 1970 I spent Thanksgiving in Beirut, Lebanon. It ended up being a tragic visit.

At the time I was living in Egypt and attending the American University in Cairo and some of my fellow students and I decided to enjoy the week-long school break visiting what was then known as "the Paris of the Middle-East." Beirut was, indeed, a cosmopolitan city and after several months in the decidedly non-cosmopolitan Cairo we had a wonderful time visiting clubs, restaurants, and shopping (at any rate, the women enjoyed shopping and the guys were young enough to still enjoy following good-looking women around).

We had been there for about three days when one night one the girls had an asthma attack and died. She had no history of asthma and the hospital she was rushed too was apparently very good - of European caliber - but by the time she arrived at hospital it was too late. We cut short our trip and returned to Cairo the next day. Nevertheless, I returned with some good memories and a love for Beirut's then-most-popular street food, the schawarma that has haunted me ever since.

The schawarma is a Middle-Eastern version of the Greek gyro made with chicken, turkey, or lamb. In either sandwich the meat is meltingly tender, partially because of the marinade and partially because it's pre-sliced and then packed back together before roasting on a vertical spit in front of a layered fire. But my efforts to duplicate this have failed in the past and I finally figured out why, it was because I was cooking the meat too quickly. So I slowed it down by giving the meat an hour to cook in a low oven and achieved as close to perfect as you can get without a vertical rotisserie.

Marinade:
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic - crushed
1 teaspoon ground sumac
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Sandwich:
2 lamb leg steaks (~ 2 pounds)
2 tablespoon olive oil
4 loaves flat bread or pita
thinly-sliced tomato
lettuce
Sauce:
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons Tahini
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground sumac
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Thoroughly mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a large zippered bag and add lamb steaks. Toss to coat thoroughly and refrigerate for 8 - 24 hours, Tossing every now and then to redistribute marinade.

Heat oven to 225F.

Remove steaks from bag, discarding marinade, and wipe dry (more or less) with paper towels. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, lidded sauté pan over medium-high heat. Brown steaks on both sides in pan (about 3 minutes per side).

Pour off excess oil, cover sauté pan, and cook in the oven for 1 hour. In the meantime, combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

Remove from pan and slice steaks thinly across the grain. Spoon sauce down the center of a loaf of flat bread or pita. Add tomato and a leaf or two of lettuce. Add lamb, roll up, and enjoy.

Oh, and save those juices in the sauté pan and sop bread in them for an amazing treat.