In Athens, Greece, a popular street food option is Gyros: pork or chicken served in pita bread. It is one of the more popular variations of souvlaki, the Greek word for meat on a spit. DW explains what makes authentic gyros so good.
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00:00Forget burgers, pizza, fries. In Greece, street food is all about me, gyros.
00:08I'm made from a stack of seasoned pork or chicken, grilled vertically, sliced off in juicy chunks, and served inside fluffy pita bread.
00:17I'm going to tell you how people enjoy me, and why I'm Greece's most popular souvlaki, grilled meat street food.
00:24By the way, my name is pronounced gyros, not gyros, gyros, gyros.
00:30I'm just one type of souvlaki in Greece.
00:34Souvlaki is cooked meat on a skewer or a spit.
00:37Food journalist Marina Petrido has written a book on Athenian souvlaki, so she knows what she's talking about.
00:45Other popular kinds of souvlaki are kalamaki, which is chicken or pork sliced in cubes and grilled horizontally on a skewer.
00:55And kebab, which is mincemeat grilled on a skewer.
00:59It can definitely get confusing because in Athens, when people say, let's go for a souvlaki, they could be referring to kalamaki, gyros, or kebab.
01:08I still think I'm the most popular. Just ask anyone why they like gyros so much.
01:16Gyros has more fat and is simply more delicious.
01:22Because it's tastier than the others.
01:25Athens is the birthplace of democracy, and what's more democratic than a meal everyone can afford?
01:31I typically cost only a few euros.
01:34Greeks love souvlaki. You could say it really unites Greek society.
01:39If you have more to cook, souvlaki is a solution. So I think it brings people together.
01:45All tourists will eat souvlaki. They'll eat moussaka too, but they'll eat souvlaki often.
01:50Is it true?
01:51We think it's really good. Like the taste.
01:55One of the most popular places to find me, traditional pita gyros, is at Archelaos, in the Athenian neighborhood of Neos Kosmos.
02:04I've been served here handmade since the original owner Archelaos opened 30 years ago.
02:10Marinos Martopoulos is one of the three-person team who now runs the shop.
02:15My fresh ingredients are key to their success.
02:19The sauces and tzatziki are made in the shop.
02:22Nothing comes pre-made here, so it's raw ingredients and basically nothing else.
02:28That means...
02:29Onions, tzatziki, tomato. Some people order fries, some don't.
02:40These days everyone has their own preferred way of eating me.
02:45In Greek we say apola, which means with everything.
02:50So it's like the typical recipe that will have the meat, tomato, onion, tzatziki sauce, and maybe fries.
03:00With everything.
03:04Some souvlaki chefs say that if you put tzatziki in the souvlaki, you miss the real taste of the meat.
03:12And what about French fries? Should souvlaki be served with or without fries?
03:18To put fries in the souvlaki ruins it. For me, it's all about taste.
03:22The classic is tomato, onion, and no sauce.
03:25So the potatoes absorb the juiciness of the souvlaki and it's going to become dry.
03:31I like French fries very much. It's a post-modern thing in souvlaki, I would say.
03:36If you like them, why not? You can eat whatever you want.
03:40We also have vegan souvlaki nowadays.
03:43There is one place that serves vegan gyros out of mushrooms.
03:49And it's quite tasty. I like it.
03:52So, are you ready to give me a taste?
03:56See you in Greece!