# Shashlik

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For the use of this term in high-energy physics, see [Shashlik (physics)](/source/Shashlik_(physics)).

**Shashlik**, or **shashlyck** (Russian: шашлык *shashlyk* ), is a [dish](/source/Dish_(food)) of [skewered](/source/Skewer) and grilled cubes of [meat](/source/Meat), similar to or synonymous with [shish kebab](/source/Shish_kebab). It is known traditionally by various other names in the [Caucasus](/source/Caucasus), [Eastern Europe](/source/Eastern_Europe) and [Central Asia](/source/Central_Asia),[1][2] and from the 19th century became popular as *shashlik* across much of the [Russian Empire](/source/Russian_Empire) and nowadays in former [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union) republics.[3][4][5]

## Etymology and history

The word *shashlik* or *shashlick* entered English from the [Russian](/source/Russian_language) *shashlyk*, which is of [Turkic](/source/Turkic_languages) origin.[6] In Turkic languages, the word *shish* means 'skewer', and *shishlik* is literally translated as 'skewerable'. The word was coined from crh: *şış* ('[spit](/source/Spit_(cooking_aide))') by the [Zaporozhian Cossacks](/source/Zaporozhian_Cossacks) and entered Russian in the 18th century, from there spreading to English and other European languages.[1][2][7] Prior to that, the Russian name for meat cooked on a skewer was **vertelnoye**, from **vertel**, 'spit'.[2] Shashlik did not reach [Moscow](/source/Moscow) until the late 19th century.[8] From then on, its popularity spread rapidly; by the 1910s it was a staple in [St Petersburg](/source/St_Petersburg) restaurants and by the 1920s it was already a pervasive street food all over urban Russia.

## Preparation

Shashlik was originally made of [lamb](/source/Lamb_and_mutton), but nowadays it is also made of [pork](/source/Pork), [beef](/source/Beef), [chicken](/source/Chicken_as_food) or [venison](/source/Venison), depending on local preferences and [religious observances](/source/Religious_observance).[3][9] The skewers are either threaded with meat only or with alternating pieces of meat, fat, and vegetables such as [bell peppers](/source/Bell_pepper), [onions](/source/Onion), [mushrooms](/source/Edible_mushroom) and [tomatoes](/source/Tomato). In Iranian cuisine, meat for shashlik (as opposed to other forms of *[shish kebab](/source/Shish_kebab)*) is usually in large chunks,[10][11] while elsewhere it is typically prepared as medium-sized meat cubes, making it similar to a [brochette](/source/Brochette). The meat is marinated overnight in a mostly acidic marinade, such as vinegar, dry wine, or sour fruit or [vegetable juice](/source/Vegetable_juice) with the addition of onions, garlic, herbs and other spices.[12][better source needed]

While it is not unusual to see shashlik today listed on the menu of restaurants, it is more commonly sold in many areas in the form of fast food by street vendors who roast the skewers on a [mangal](/source/Mangal_(barbecue)) over wood, [charcoal](/source/Charcoal), or coal. It is also cooked in outdoor environments during social gatherings, similarly to [barbecue](/source/Barbecue) in English-speaking countries.

Despite the simplicity of preparing shashlik, the process of frying meat over an open fire can cause inconvenience for residents of apartment buildings.[13]

## See also

- [List of kebabs](/source/List_of_kebabs)
- *[Satay](/source/Satay)*, a similar dish from [Indonesia](/source/Indonesia)
- *[Yakitori](/source/Yakitori)*, [Japanese](/source/Japanese_cuisine) variety of skewered meat

## References

1. Pokhlebkin, William Vasilyevich (2004 [1978]). *Natsionalnye kukhni nashikh narodov* [National Cuisines of Our Peoples] (in Russian). Moskva: Tsentrpoligraf. ISBN 5-9524-0718-8.

1. [*Culture and Life*](https://books.google.com/books?id=BUwtAQAAMAAJ&q=mtsvadi). Union of Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. 1982. – via Google Books. The Russian term, *shashlik*, has an interesting etymology: it would seem natural for the word to be borrowed from one of the Caucasian languages. But no, the Georgian for it is *mtsvadi*, the Azerbaijani, *kebab*, and the Armenian, *[horovts](/source/Khorovats)*. Shashlik is a [Zaporozhye Cossack](/source/Zaporozhian_Cossacks) coinage from the Crimean Tatar *sheesh* (spit), brought to Russia in the 18th century, after [Field-Marshal Mienich](/source/Burkhard_Christoph_von_M%C3%BCnnich)'s [Crimean campaign](/source/Russo-Turkish_War_(1735%E2%80%931739)). Prior to the 18th century, the dish was called *verchenoye*, from the Russian *vertel*, spit.

1. Kraig, Bruce & Taylor Sen, Colleen (9 September 2013). [*Street Food around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture*](https://books.google.com/books?id=9XCjAQAAQBAJ). ABC-CLIO. pp. 64, 294–295, 384–385. ISBN 9781598849554. – via Google Books. An ancient dish, well known to herders and nomads across a wide swath of the Caucasus and Central Asia, *shashlyk* became popular in Russia in the mid-19th century after Georgia, Azerbaijan, and part of Armenia were absorbed into the Russian Empire. In those regions, shashlyk originally referred to cubes of grilled lamb cooked on skewers, whereas basturma was the grilled beef version of this dish. But Russians have broadened the term shashlyk to mean any kind of meat–pork, beef, lamb, venison–cut into cubes, marinated for several hours, threaded onto skewers, and cooked over hot coals.

1. Davidson, Alan (2014). [*The Oxford Companion to Food*](https://books.google.com/books?id=bIIeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA442). Jaine, Tom (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 442. ISBN 9780191040726. – via Google Books.

1. Albala, Ken (2011). [*Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia*](https://books.google.com/books?id=NTo6c_PJWRgC&pg=RA2-PA51). ABC-CLIO. pp. V3:51, V4:35, V4:304. ISBN 9780313376269. – via Google Books.

1. [American Heritage Dictionary Entry: shashlik](https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=shashlik)

1. ["Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary"](http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=/usr/local/share/starling/morpho&morpho=1&basename=%5Cusr%5Clocal%5Cshare%5Cstarling%5Cmorpho%5Cvasmer%5Cvasmer&first=17017). *starling.rinet.ru*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080116060559/http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=/usr/local/share/starling/morpho&morpho=1&basename=%5Cusr%5Clocal%5Cshare%5Cstarling%5Cmorpho%5Cvasmer%5Cvasmer&first=17017) 16 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

1. Владимир Гиляровский. *Москва и москвичи*, гл. [Трактиры](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/s%3A%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B2%D0%B0_%D0%B8_%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B8_(%D0%93%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9)%2F%D0%A2%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%80%D1%8B). 1926 ([Vladimir Gilyarovsky](/source/Vladimir_Gilyarovsky). *Moscow and Muscovites*. 1926)

1. *[Шашлык](https://www.langet.ru/html/q/qaql3k.html)*. In: В. В. Похлёбкин, *Кулинарный словарь от А до Я*. Москва, Центрполиграф, 2000, ISBN 5-227-00460-9 ([William Pokhlyobkin](/source/William_Pokhlyobkin), *Culinary Dictionary*. Moscow, Tsentrpoligraf, 2000; Russian)

1. ["Archived copy"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131012183457/http://www.chn.ir/NSite/FullStory/News/?Id=105446&Serv=0&SGr=0). Archived from [the original](http://www.chn.ir/NSite/FullStory/News/?Id=105446&Serv=0&SGr=0) on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2013-10-12.

1. ["از شیشلیک شاندیز تا آبگوشت مشهد"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131012203426/http://sobhtoos.ir/political/88-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%87%D8%A7/30597-6lik.html). Archived from [the original](http://sobhtoos.ir/political/88-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%87%D8%A7/30597-6lik.html) on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2013-10-12.

1. [Marinade recipes for shashlik](https://www.russlandjournal.de/en/recipes/grilling-and-bbq.html) at RusslandJournal.de

1. Eremeeva, Jennifer (2020-05-30). ["Shashlyk in the City"](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/05/30/shashlyk-in-the-city-a70429). *The Moscow Times*. Retrieved 2024-03-12.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Shashlik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shashlik) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shashlik?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.