Entry from
January 04, 2005
Gyro
"Gyro" is the Greek version of New York's Italian "hero" sandwich. I've traced the "gyro" origins to the 1960s and the Parthenon Restaurant in Chicago.
"Gyro" exploded onto the New York City scene in the early 1970s. In other parts of the world it is called a "YEE-roh." In New York City, most call it a "JY-roh."
(Oxford English Dictionary)
A sandwich made with pitta bread and containing slices of cooked spiced meat (usu. lamb or beef), tomatoes, onions, etc. Cf. DONER KEBAB n.
1971 N.Y. Times 4 Sept. 23/1 More than 30 Greek snack stores selling the gyro have opened in Manhattan in the last year. 1978 New Yorker 23 Oct. 101/1 Soyer circled the area, took his time, and settled for a Greek gyromounds of thinly sliced, garlicky pressed beef and lamb on pita bread.
"Gyro" is rarely seen in Greek cookbooks. This is from The Food of Greece (1975; 1992 reprint) by Vilma Liacouras Chantiles, pg. 155:
GYRO
[Spitted spiced lamb]
Gyro, gyro oli is a favorite children's game, comparable to farmer in the dell, which describes the round-and-round motion of gyro. Since spreading to Greece from the Middle East, industrious Hellenes have brought it to the United States (New York is spinning with gyro restaurants), and one more snack has been added. On a vertical spit, which turns electrically,
or is run manually by the mikro (apprentice), the meat is roasted to flavorful crispness. I adapted this recipe from a tasty snack in Crete. To make at home, grill outdoors (horizontally when lacking a vertical grill), and indoors, broil--delicious. (Recipe follows - ed.)
From The WFMT Guide (Chicago Guide in 1971, Chicago from 1975), December 1968, pg. 40, col. 2:
...
THE PARTHENON--314 S. Halsted. Greek. A good deal of seafood (including squid and octopus), over a dozen lamb dishes including gyros, spit-roasted slices of beef and lamb with onion and parsley. The usual Greek wines and liquors plus beer by glass and pitcher. Large room with efficient service. Greek music on records. Daily 11-2 am. Child. 726-2407.
27 May 1971, Chicago Tribune, section 2, pg. 19:
This Parthenon, Too, Is Classic Greek
(...)(Col. 2--ed.) Next came gyros ($1.95 a plate), unusual, intriguing and thoroly (sic) Greek. It consists of layers of specially spiced lamb and beef, barbecued vertically on equipment imported from Greece, which is set up in the window at the front of the restaurant.
(...)(Photo caption, col. 6 -- ed.)
Bill Liakouras slices a dishful of gyros, vertically barbecued layers of spiced lamb and beef.
"Gyro" exploded onto the New York City scene in the early 1970s. In other parts of the world it is called a "YEE-roh." In New York City, most call it a "JY-roh."
(Oxford English Dictionary)
A sandwich made with pitta bread and containing slices of cooked spiced meat (usu. lamb or beef), tomatoes, onions, etc. Cf. DONER KEBAB n.
1971 N.Y. Times 4 Sept. 23/1 More than 30 Greek snack stores selling the gyro have opened in Manhattan in the last year. 1978 New Yorker 23 Oct. 101/1 Soyer circled the area, took his time, and settled for a Greek gyromounds of thinly sliced, garlicky pressed beef and lamb on pita bread.
"Gyro" is rarely seen in Greek cookbooks. This is from The Food of Greece (1975; 1992 reprint) by Vilma Liacouras Chantiles, pg. 155:
GYRO
[Spitted spiced lamb]
Gyro, gyro oli is a favorite children's game, comparable to farmer in the dell, which describes the round-and-round motion of gyro. Since spreading to Greece from the Middle East, industrious Hellenes have brought it to the United States (New York is spinning with gyro restaurants), and one more snack has been added. On a vertical spit, which turns electrically,
or is run manually by the mikro (apprentice), the meat is roasted to flavorful crispness. I adapted this recipe from a tasty snack in Crete. To make at home, grill outdoors (horizontally when lacking a vertical grill), and indoors, broil--delicious. (Recipe follows - ed.)
From The WFMT Guide (Chicago Guide in 1971, Chicago from 1975), December 1968, pg. 40, col. 2:
...
THE PARTHENON--314 S. Halsted. Greek. A good deal of seafood (including squid and octopus), over a dozen lamb dishes including gyros, spit-roasted slices of beef and lamb with onion and parsley. The usual Greek wines and liquors plus beer by glass and pitcher. Large room with efficient service. Greek music on records. Daily 11-2 am. Child. 726-2407.
27 May 1971, Chicago Tribune, section 2, pg. 19:
This Parthenon, Too, Is Classic Greek
(...)(Col. 2--ed.) Next came gyros ($1.95 a plate), unusual, intriguing and thoroly (sic) Greek. It consists of layers of specially spiced lamb and beef, barbecued vertically on equipment imported from Greece, which is set up in the window at the front of the restaurant.
(...)(Photo caption, col. 6 -- ed.)
Bill Liakouras slices a dishful of gyros, vertically barbecued layers of spiced lamb and beef.