Shawarms, Döners, gyros, and kebabs. Where do they come from? As in the word origins, not the food origins. Also, I know I pronounced these wrong (in the video). Take a deep breath.
Okay, getting serious. So even though shawarma (شاورما) is an Arabic word the way I’m saying it, this in reality is a Turkish word, which is çevirme, meaning ‘turning’, like meat on an axis. And چویرمه (pronounced [tsheh-VEER-meh] / /t͡ʃe.viɾˈme/) is how the word was spelled in Ottoman Turkish in Arabic letters, entering into Arabic as shawarma.
Now, döner is also Turkish, pretty much means the same thing, a rotary. The word çevirme is still used for food like ‘kuzu çevirme’, lamb on a horizontal spit, as opposed to the massive vertical döner.
As to gyros, once again, it comes from the word for rotation in Greek, γύρος (approximately pronounced YEE-ros, or /ˈʝiros/), or more correctly, gyrating. Think of the gyroscope. Same route.
And on to Kabab, this one is Arabic (كباب), though it might have been borrowed from Aramaic. But still, and I’m sorry to disappoint, it also means to turn over. What are you gonna do…
So when people order a döner kebab, that’s just ‘rotate rotate’, like ordering chai tea, but for meat.
Last, some might be familiar with a levantine dish called kibbi. Well kidbe and kebab come from the same root. But this time instead of the meat turning over a fire, it indicates the way these balls are prepared, as seen in the video. They’re being turned to shape them. And there you go.
Leave a Reply