Kebabs are now found all over the world, where local culinary traditions have influenced the basic concept. In France, you’ll find brochettes – skewered meats, cheeses, veg and fruit, served with fondue. Portugal has espetadas – grilled beef kebabs marinated in red wine vinegar, onion, garlic and parsley threaded on to branches of bay leaves, served atop Portuguese bread. There’s anticucho in Bolivia (skewered meats and potatoes with peanut sauce) or a Peruvian version in which beef heart is marinated in chilli, spices and garlic. Street vendors in Mali, West Africa, sell kyinkyinga (pronounced ‘chinchinga’) – charcoal-grilled, cubed beef or liver in onion, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, crushed peanuts and chilli paste.
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have satay (literally ‘triple-stacked’) – turmeric-infused meat skewers (usually chicken, goat or sometimes lamb) served with spicy peanut sauce. In Japan, there are barbecue stalls selling kushiyaki – grilled chicken, pork, beef, tofu, seafood, or vegetable skewers, usually marinaded in a dipping sauce made from mirin, saké and soy sauce.
Though the word ‘kebab’ means ‘roast meat’ in Turkish, you’ll find them made from fish, fruit, vegetables, cheese and tofu… and not only roasted but shallow-fried, deep-fried, grilled, baked, cooked on hot stone slabs or on metal coasters, in a sauce, or even inside eggshells. There’s a version in which spicy lamb mince is layered with eggs, baked like a meatloaf, and cut into squares. Another variety, known as ‘kebab kheema’, is simply minced mutton curry in which a piece of lit charcoal is chucked in, in order to infuse the meat with a smoky aroma. Try that at your next dinner party.
Defining what a kebab is, then, can be like trying to pinprick mercury, but the next time you’re ordering a late-night shawarma with extra chilli, it’s worth remembering that far from being dubious studenty food, kebabs are the original fast food, perfected in royal Muslim kitchens over centuries. In fact, they were once so expensive that ordinary folk couldn’t afford to eat them except as a special treat on New Year’s Day. Now that’s a sobering thought.
London Eating & Drinking
This is the newly revised and updated edition of Time Out's indispensable Guide to London's restaurants, cafes, bars and gastropubs. With 1,500 independent and impartial reviews.
London Eating & Drinking
Cheap Eats in London
Time Out London magazine (Issue 1829)
