{{short description|Greek dish}} {{About|the Greek dish|the moth genus|Gyros (moth)|other uses|Gyro (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox food | name = Gyros | image = Pita giros.JPG<!--Please discuss changes on the talk page--> | image_size = 235px | caption = Gyros in Greece, with meat, onions, tomato, lettuce, fried potatoes, and tzatziki rolled in a pita | alternate_name = Gyro<ref name="What's Cooking">{{cite web |title=Gyro Sandwich History |url=https://whatscookingamerica.net/history/sandwiches/gyrosandwich.htm |website=What's Cooking America |date=21 May 2015 |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-date=18 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118182400/https://whatscookingamerica.net/history/sandwiches/gyrosandwich.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> | country = Greece | region = | course = Main course | type = Meat wrap | served = Hot | main_ingredient = Pita bread, pork, fried potatoes, lettuce, tomato, onions, tzatziki or yogurt | variations = Chicken, ground beef, or lamb instead of pork | calories = | other = }} '''Gyros''', sometimes anglicized as a '''gyro'''<ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/gyro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920210821/https://www.lexico.com/definition/gyro |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |title=gyro |dictionary=Lexico UK English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|gyro}}</ref><ref>"[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gyro Gyro] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503090054/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gyro |date=2022-05-03}}". ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Cambridge University Press. 2022.</ref> ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|ɪər|oʊ|,_|ˈ|dʒ|ɪər|-|,_|ˈ|dʒ|aɪ|r|-}}; {{langx|el|γύρος|gýros/yíros|turn}}, {{IPA|el|ˈʝiros|pron}}), is meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, along with other ingredients such as tomato, onion, fried potatoes, and tzatziki. In Greece and Cyprus, it is normally made with pork<ref name="Simopoulos & Bhat 2000">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQgwVl22fXkC&pg=PA6 |title=Street foods |date=2000 |publisher=Karger |isbn=9783805569279 |editor-last=Simopoulos |editor-first=Artemis P. |editor-link=Artemis Simopoulos |location=Basel |pages=6 |oclc=41711932 |editor-last2=Bhat |editor-first2=Ramesh Venkataramana Bhat |access-date=2019-03-17 |archive-date=2023-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307201333/https://books.google.com/books?id=QQgwVl22fXkC&pg=PA6 |url-status=live}}</ref> or sometimes with chicken, whilst ground beef and lamb are sometimes used in other countries.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Segal |first=David |date=2009-07-15 |title=The Gyro's History Unfolds |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/15gyro.html |access-date=2023-11-07 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="The New York Times"/>
==Name== The name comes from the Greek {{lang|el|γύρος}} ({{Transliteration|el|gýros}}, {{gloss|circle}} or {{gloss|turn}}). It is a calque of the Turkish {{lang|tr|döner}}, from {{lang|tr|dönmek}}, also meaning {{gloss|turn}}.<ref>Babiniotis, {{lang|el|Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Snyder |first=Meredith |title=The World's Best Street Food |url=https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=Wat9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA68&dq=doner+and+gyros+origin&hl=tr&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim_4yfh96TAxWTQvEDHZduFNQQ6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=doner%20and%20gyros%20origin&f=false |website=Google Books}}</ref> The name ''döner'' was formerly used in Greece, spelled ντονέρ.<ref name="kremezi"/> The word ντονέρ was criticized in Greece for being Turkish,<ref>Γιάκωβος Σ. Διζικιρικής, Να ξετουρκέψουμε τη γλώσσα μας 'Let Us De-Turkify our Language', Athens 1975, p. 62</ref> and the word 'gyros' proposed to replace it.<ref name="kremezi"/> The word ''gyro'' or ''gyros'' was already in use in American English by at least 1970,<ref name="Glaser & Snyder 1970"/> and along with {{lang|el|γύρος}} in Greek, came to replace ''doner kebab'' for the Greek version of the dish.<ref name="kremezi"/> Some Greek restaurants in the US continued to use both ''doner kebab'' and ''gyros'' to refer to the same dish in the 1970s.<ref name="New York 1971">{{Cite magazine |date=1971 |title=(unknown title) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cFEpAQAAIAAJ&q=%22doner+kebab%22 |magazine=New York |at=vol. 4 |access-date=2018-01-28 |quote=doner kebab, also known as a gyro, the by-now-familiar compressed seasoned lamb cooked on a vertical rotisserie, slices of which are served as a sandwich on Greek pita bread |archive-date=2023-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307201325/https://books.google.com/books?id=cFEpAQAAIAAJ&q=%22doner+kebab%22 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In Greek, "{{Transliteration|el|gyros|italic=no}}" is a nominative singular noun, but the final 's' is often interpreted in English usage as plural,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/gyro|title=Gyro |website=dictionary.cambridge.org|language=en|access-date=2019-07-14|archive-date=2019-07-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714082641/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/gyro|url-status=live}}</ref> leading to the singular back-formation "gyro".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/greek-101-6435779|title=Greek 101|first=Jay|last=Francis|date=2009-01-09|website=Houston Press|access-date=2019-10-28|archive-date=2021-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608105153/https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/greek-101-6435779|url-status=live}}</ref> The standard Greek and English pronunciation is {{IPA|el|ˈʝiɾos|}}. Some English speakers pronounce it {{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|aɪ|r|oʊ}}, because the word is a heteronym of the related word "gyro".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cutolo |first=Morgan |date=24 July 2024 |title=Gyro Food Pronunciation: What Is the Correct Way? |url=https://www.rd.com/article/how-to-pronounce-gyro/ |access-date=16 October 2024 |website=rd.com}}</ref>
In Athens and other parts of southern Greece, the skewered meat dish elsewhere called {{Transliteration|el|souvlaki}} is known as {{Transliteration|el|kalamaki}}, while {{Transliteration|el|souvlaki}} is a term used generally for gyros, and similar dishes.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Joyce-Ann|last1=Gatsoulis|title=Night+Day Athens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdp1BOQIR40C&pg=PA43|publisher=ASDavis Media Group|date=2006|isbn=9780976601302|via=Google Books|access-date=2019-10-28|archive-date=2023-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307201324/https://books.google.com/books?id=vdp1BOQIR40C&pg=PA43|url-status=live}}</ref> In other regions, for example in Thessaloniki, {{Transliteration|el|gyros}} only refers to the meat on the spit, and what English speakers refer to as a "gyros wrap" is called a {{gloss|sandwich}} ({{lang|el|σάντουιτς}}).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Θεσσαλονίκη VS Αθήνα. Όταν θέλεις να παραγγείλεις ένα σουβλάκι και δεν μπορείς! |url=https://minisite.marnellos.gr/gr/blog/thessaloniki-vs-athina--otan-theleis-na-paraggeileis-ena-soublaki-kai-den-mporeis-187 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Minisite Marnellos.gr |language=el}}</ref>
===Related dishes=== Gyros is similar to other dishes such as the Arab shawarma, Canadian donair, and Mexican al pastor, all of which are derived from the Turkish doner kebab.<ref name="Marks 2010">{{cite book |first1=Gil |last1=Marks |title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Food |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFK_yx7Ps7cC&pg=PT1682 |publisher=HMH |date=17 November 2010 |isbn=978-0-544-18631-6 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="Prichep 2015">{{cite web|url=https://theworld.org/stories/2015/05/06/taco-youre-eating-got-its-start-middle-east|title=Thank the Ottoman Empire for the taco al pastor|last1=Prichep|first1=Deena|last2=Estrin|first2=Daniel|date=2015-05-07|website=PRI|access-date=19 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Food and Language: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2009|last=Kremezi|first=Aglaia|publisher=Prospect Books|year=2010|isbn=9781903018798|editor-last=Hosking|editor-first=Richard|volume=28|location=Totnes|pages=203–204|chapter=What's in the Name of a Dish?|oclc=624419365|author-link=Aglaia Kremezi|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ilvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT202}}</ref>
==History== thumb|Lamb gyros being grilled Grilling a vertical spit of stacked meat and slicing it off as it cooks was developed in the city of Bursa<ref name="kk">Kenneth F. Kiple, Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas, eds., ''Cambridge World History of Food'', Cambridge, 2000. {{ISBN|0-521-40216-6}}.</ref> during the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire. After the 1922–23 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the Greeks of Asia Minor brought their variation with them to Greece. Following World War II, gyros made with lamb was present in Athens.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=(unknown title) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qp8RAAAAIAAJ&q=doner+kebab|magazine=Sports Illustrated|volume=3|pages=116|publisher=Time, Incorporated|date=1955|via=Google Books|access-date=2020-10-08|archive-date=2023-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307201324/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qp8RAAAAIAAJ&q=doner+kebab|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kk"/>{{Page needed|date=March 2026|reason=Previously listed as p. 1, Vol. 2. But p. 1 is in Vol. 1, and says nothing about gyros or Greeks}} It was likely introduced by immigrants from Anatolia and the Middle East.<ref name="Simopoulos & Bhat 2000"/><ref>{{cite book|first1=Alan|last1=Davidson|title=The Oxford Companion to Food|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIIeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA259|publisher=OUP Oxford|date=21 August 2014|isbn=978-0-19-104072-6|via=Google Books}}</ref> The Greek version is normally made with pork and served with tzatziki, and became known as gyros.<ref name="kremezi">{{Cite conference |last1=Kremezi |first1=Aglaia |author-link1=Aglaia Kremezi |date=2010 |editor-last=Hosking |editor-first=Richard |title=What's in the Name of a Dish? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ilvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT202 |conference=Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery |publisher=Prospect Books |pages=203–204 |isbn=978-1-903018-79-8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115045842/https://books.google.com/books?id=3ilvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT202 |archive-date=2023-01-15 |access-date=2018-10-19 |via=Google Books |book-title=Food and Language: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="dizikirikis">Γιάκωβος Σ. Διζικιρικής, Να ξετουρκέψουμε τη γλώσσα μας 'Let Us De-Turkify our Language', Athens 1975, p. 62, proposes substituting {{lang|el|γυριστό}} for {{lang|el|ντονέρ}}, but ''The New York Times'' was already using the word ''gyro'' in English in 1971 (4 Sept. 23/1) according to the ''OED'', 1993 online edition, [http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/243308 ''s.v.'']</ref>
thumb|Gyros plate By 1970, gyros wraps were already a popular fast food in Athens, as well as in Chicago and New York City.<ref name="Glaser & Snyder 1970">{{cite magazine |first1=Milton|last1=Glaser|first2=Jerome|last2=Snyder|date=7 December 1970 |title=Spit and Image |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBAZFl0GHqUC&pg=PA88 |magazine=New York |publisher=New York Media, LLC |access-date=22 January 2024|via=Google Books|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115045842/https://books.google.com/books?id=tBAZFl0GHqUC&pg=PA88|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Food Timeline: history notes--sandwiches">{{cite news |url=http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsandwiches.html#gyros |title=The Gyro, a Greek Sandwich, Selling Like Hot Dogs |date=September 4, 1971 |newspaper=The New York Times |pages=23 |access-date=February 22, 2016 |archive-date=March 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323175224/http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsandwiches.html#gyros |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/15gyro.html?_r=0| title=The Gyro's History Unfolds| author=David Segal| date=July 14, 2009| newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=June 4, 2016| archive-date=July 21, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721103623/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/15gyro.html?_r=0| url-status=live}}</ref> At that time, although vertical rotisseries were starting to be mass-produced in the US by Gyros Inc.<ref name="Glaser & Snyder 1970"/> of Chicago, the stacks of meat were still hand-made. There are several claimants to have introduced the first mass-produced gyros to the United States, all based in the Chicago area in the early 1970s, and of Greek descent. One of them, Peter Parthenis, has said that the mass-produced gyro was first conceptualized by John and Margaret Garlic; John Garlic was a Jewish car salesman who later ran a restaurant featuring live dolphins.<ref name="The New York Times"/>
The Halifax donair in Canada which was based on the Greek gyros was invented in the 1970s by Peter Gamoulakos. Originally from Greece, he started selling Greek gyros (a pita stuffed with grilled lamb and tzatziki) from his restaurant located off the Bedford Highway.<ref>{{Cite web |last=corusadmin |date=2022-04-27 |title=The Delicious History Of The Halifax Donair |url=https://www.foodnetwork.ca/article/the-delicious-history-of-the-halifax-donair/ |access-date=2023-08-20 |website=Food Network Canada |language=en-CA}}</ref>
==Preparation== thumb|Gyros preparation In Greece, gyros is normally made with pork, though other meats are used in other countries.<ref name="kremezi"/> Chicken is common, and lamb or beef may be found more rarely.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} Typical American mass-produced gyros are made with finely ground beef mixed with lamb.<ref name="The New York Times"/>
For hand-made gyros, meat is cut into approximately round, thin, flat slices, which are then stacked on a spit and seasoned. Fat trimmings are usually interspersed. Spices may include cumin, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and others.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} The pieces of meat, in the shape of an inverted cone, are placed on a tall vertical rotisserie, which turns slowly in front of a source of heat or broiler. As the cone cooks, lower parts are basted with the juices running off the upper parts. The outside of the meat is sliced vertically in thin, crisp shavings when done.<ref name="kremezi"/><ref name="Albala 2011">{{cite book|first1=Ken|last1=Albala|title=Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTo6c_PJWRgC&pg=RA3-PA168|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2011 |isbn=9780313376269|via=Google Books}}</ref>
The rate of roasting can be adjusted by varying the intensity of the heat, the distance between the heat and the meat, and the speed of spit rotation, thus allowing the cook to adjust for varying rates of consumption.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
In Greece, it is customarily served in an oiled, lightly grilled piece of pita, rolled up with sliced tomatoes, chopped onions, and fried potatoes, sometimes topped with tzatziki, or, sometimes in northern Greece, ketchup or mustard.<ref name="Kraig & Taylor Sen 2013">{{cite book|first1=Bruce|last1=Kraig|first2=Colleen|last2=Taylor Sen|title=Street Food around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XCjAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=9 September 2013|isbn=9781598849554|via=Google Books|access-date=21 September 2019|archive-date=7 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307201347/https://books.google.com/books?id=9XCjAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A guide to ordering "gyros" in Greece |url=https://www.itinari.com/a-guide-to-ordering-gyros-in-greece-xfr8 |website=Itinari |date=26 May 2019 |access-date=12 December 2019 |archive-date=12 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212061503/https://www.itinari.com/a-guide-to-ordering-gyros-in-greece-xfr8 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Great Street Food in Thessaloniki: A Round-the-Clock Guide |url=http://www.greece-is.com/great-street-food-thessaloniki-round-clock-guide/ |website=Greece Is |date=4 July 2017 |access-date=12 December 2019 |archive-date=12 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212061501/http://www.greece-is.com/great-street-food-thessaloniki-round-clock-guide/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Cyprus|Food|Greece}} * List of Greek dishes * List of kebabs * List of spit-roasted foods
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|gyros}}
{{Cuisine of Greece}} {{sandwiches}} {{Street food}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Arab cuisine Category:Fast food Category:Flatbread dishes Category:Greek cuisine Category:Levantine cuisine Category:Meat dishes Category:Mediterranean cuisine Category:Middle Eastern grilled meats Category:National dishes Category:Sandwiches Category:Spit-cooked foods Category:Greek-American cuisine