Question for mostly Greeks and Turks but others are welcome to answer also.Is there any difference between kebab and gyros other than that that gyros can be made with pork?
Posted by PainOk1877@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 122 comments
curious.
Nikoschalkis1@reddit
Gyros goes a lot easier on spice and stuff. The taste relies more on the quality of the meat and the condiments. A correct gyros doesn't include fries because they hide the meat's taste. Tzatziki or a yogurt sauce is preferred because sourness elevates the meat's taste. My favourite gyros is pork gyros with yogurt sauce, lettuce and tomato. Some may call it gay, I call it the connoisseurs' gyros.
Savings_Dragonfly806@reddit
The hell you mean without fries?! They are absolutely essential!.
Nikoschalkis1@reddit
Fickle minded eater.... Potatoes are definitely not essential, they're junk food.
Savings_Dragonfly806@reddit
and what do you think Gyros are?
Nikoschalkis1@reddit
Gyros? Grilled Meat, bread, tzatziki, tomato lettuce onion and mustard perhaps, is junk?
Savings_Dragonfly806@reddit
What you said now, excluding tzatziki, perfectly describes a burger. So pretty much that.
Nikoschalkis1@reddit
There are burgers which are junk and those that aren't. Of course McDonald's and every burger chain is junk food because the ingredients are bullshit, condiments which contain every know junk ingredient and oil, like BBQ sauces cheese sauces and also fried stuff like onions. Also the bread is bullshit. Homemade burgers are ok and healthy actually, or burgers from smaller burger restaurants.
Savings_Dragonfly806@reddit
Ok, if you are saying quality makes something junk food, then how are ALL fries junk food? Is my mom's fries the same level of junk food as McDonald's?
yeswhat111@reddit
Being a citizen of Athens doesn't make you the great wise man you think you are. Fries in gyros are fine. If there is one thing that both döner and gyros have in common, is that they are trully the people's food, no pretentious connoisseurs', fine dinning shit. So let the people have what they like as they allow you to have your connoisseur gyros.
Nikoschalkis1@reddit
What? In a comment bellow I literally make fun of athenian dwellers bro for not liking lamb, we are on the same team.
Bottles4u@reddit
Are you Cretan? If I don’t specifically ask for tzatziki in Crete they put yogurt and it’s 👎🏻
No-Particular-9981@reddit
funstufffff@reddit
In Turkiye it's more about what region of Turkiye you are eating it from, spices depends on the region. In Egean, it's very little spices and all about the flavour and the quality of the meat, in eastern provinces, it's more about spices.
PainOk1877@reddit (OP)
haha,thanks :)
LeDEvRo@reddit
Yeap ..materials are different in general same as the pita. Also Turks won't admit it but everything is derived from Greeks ..ottomans were good for milk, cheese and meat in general. All modern tuskish delights and food has Greek origin with Turkish names - some Turks would go nuts about this but history never lies
Kitsooos@reddit
Fun fact. Gyros/Doner is actually Armenian. It originated in the southern Caucasus during Ottoman times and travelled through the Armenian Highlands and reached Kapadocia. It was in Kapadocia that it was properly introduced to both Greeks and Turks.
LeDEvRo@reddit
No
PainOk1877@reddit (OP)
hmm,interesting.do armenians have a name for their original version?
yeswhat111@reddit
Gyranian? Dönerian?
Kitsooos@reddit
I actually don't know. I remember reading about the origins some years ago, but I actually don't remember reading about the name.
Early-Show2886@reddit
Is this starting up again? It's always the same thing. Every time, questions get posted in an "Ask Balkan" sub regarding Turks vs. Greeks—and the moderators don't do a thing about it. Why don't you just start your own sub where you *only* ask questions about Turks vs. Greeks?
BamBumKiofte23@reddit
We allow it because it's generating sweet sweet clicks, now go back to fighting your Greek opponent. You can't let a Greek win an argument, can you?
I'm being sarcastic if it wasn't painfully obvious.
Early-Show2886@reddit
I assume you can read. I am a Balkan Turk—not a Turkey Turk. The whole Turks-vs.-Greeks thing has nothing to do with me. I don't know any Balkan Turks who would ever compare themselves to Greeks. It is strictly between Turks from Turkey and Greeks from Greece.
BamBumKiofte23@reddit
A Balkan Turk is as welcome as a Turkey Turk here, and I have no issues with any kind of Turk really. Don't mind me and my sarcasm, and certainly do not mind the trolls trying to stir shit up.
Dramatic-View-7792@reddit
Here for the replies 👀🍿
Hungry-Specific5600@reddit
Allah gave greeks the world, but greeks generous so they gave most of it away 💪🏿😎
LeDEvRo@reddit
You mean stole it ..but yeah, you stole it successfully
munchmills@reddit
Döner kebap
Şiş kebap
Adana kebap
İskender kebap
btweenthatormohammad@reddit
Nobody calls that kebab in Turkey, it's just döner.
munchmills@reddit
Döner kebap
Şiş kevap
Adana Kebap
İskender kebap
tabulasomnia@reddit
also should be mentioned: what people call kebab is specifically "döner sandwich" which is the cheapest, lamest, simplest way to consume it.
we also have döner in a plate with some garnish and tomatoes, optionally with rice, eaten as a proper dish in a restaurant (so, not street food). if you don't stop there and use a specific sauce on it, it becomes an entirely different type of kebab.
ferevon@reddit
best way is tombik and i will die before i say otherwise
imma_catlady_ho@reddit
My whole life I thought "is döner a kebab?" I only heard this from foreigners. I don't get the obsession with calling everything kebab.
Adistaktos34@reddit
I have the desire to share this historical information regarding pork in Greece and mainly in the Peloponnese (I think the Turks know it). I believe it would have happened in other Balkan lands at that time, but it remains to be seen from your answers.
Well, the Peloponnese was almost autonomous with relatively few Turkish permanent residents who mainly lived in the castles under the protection of the Ottoman army, the locals lived in the villages. The Ottoman soldiers on their patrols used to steal animals from the farmers to eat since they had power and weapons. The local population adopted the practice of having only pigs as they were the only animals that the soldiers did not steal. Slowly it became the dominant animal among the farmers and since then we have the well-known piglet ( Gourounopoula-Γουρουνοπούλα) as a local delicacy. For me it is the most delicious meat.
StPauliPirate@reddit
Döner: mostly lamb or beef, thin cut
Gyros: mostly pork, thick cut
pitogyros@reddit
In my opinion Greek pita and Turkish wrap also makes a difference that’s mention worthy
SerVonDe@reddit
Real doner has no spice only salt
ChocolateAddictions@reddit
Damn, my explanation was so much longer!
StunningPicture8224@reddit
This man gets it
PainOk1877@reddit (OP)
thanks :)
Raknel@reddit
In Hungary we have kebab places selling gyros
Nobody knows what's what
kokturk@reddit
Assuming you are asking about doner and not kebab, both are good but different. I like gyros as a drunk food but as a proper meal döner is better for me.
ProposalKey5174@reddit
Funny. In Belgium it would be the other way around.
Doner is really THE midnight snack. Gyros rather something you eat at a real restaurant.
kokturk@reddit
Based on my small sample size both are considered like midnight snack abroad. But döner abroad is different than döner in Türkiye so I can understand why.
I never had a proper gyros in a restaurant maybe thats why I assume it is a drunk food.
ProposalKey5174@reddit
That’s certainly true. What we consider “doner” in Belgium is what you have in Germany as well. Bread filled with meat, vegetables and sauce. Not on a plate.
AntiKouk@reddit
I wouldn't say it's restaurant food but for me it's a sit down at a local eatery with your friends while kebab is take away style eat walking back home drunk
Early-Show2886@reddit
In Germany you can find everywhere Döner. Its a Fastfood like.
ProposalKey5174@reddit
Our concept is a bit the same as in Germany.
Significant-Ad-7182@reddit
Real question to Greeks; Is gyros a kebab or not?
yeswhat111@reddit
In Greece gyros is gyros and kebab is kebab. Ask me anything.
MardukPainkiller@reddit
It's all kebab
yeswhat111@reddit
Great difference. With döner I get the texture of almost minced meat. With gyros you get more like strands or slthicker shavings of meat. Both are excellent or can do a rapid, omnidirectional, through cleanse of your entire GI tract.
PckMan@reddit
In Greece what we call kebab is basically minced meat, usually beef and lamb, mixed with specific spices, formed into a long sausage like patty, and grilled. Gyros has less spices, and mainly refers to how the meat is cooked which is stacked and grilled on the vertial rotisserie. My understanding is that in some places they call kebab what we call gyros, but to greeks kebab and gyros are very different things.
Professional-Fee-488@reddit
We've got the exact same definitions of said dishes in Serbia, kebab is mixed mince grilled on a skewer and gyros is thinly cut meat grilled in stacks on a vertical rotisserie. Gyros very lightly seasoned, kebab heavily seasoned, gyros meat is usually mixed with some already pre-made salad that comes without saying unless you specifically tell them not to add it, kebab comes with no spreads or salads other than the ones you ask them to add, also no fries in gyros, makes no sense to us, tzatziki or yogurt-cucumbersalad are preferred add-ons to gyros. Pretty clear where we got it from I'd say.
asdfghjk01234@reddit
Even between Greeks there's a difference on the use of the name kebab. In Athens and many other places kebab is that minced meat thing you've described. In other places e.g. the central part of the greek mainland kebab is an alternative name for kontosouvli (pork, lamb etc)
TinyAsianMachine@reddit
Isn't a Greek kebab essentially a Turkish Kofte, or like an Adana kebab (the kofte not the dish as a whole)
funstufffff@reddit
Aren't they all the same with different names? We have basically the same cuisine anyway.
tabulasomnia@reddit
shh, don't let ethnonationalists hear you.
tabulasomnia@reddit
I think that would be an adana kebab in turkey, adana being the turkish city with the spiciest cuisine. funnily enough, if you leave out the spices, we call it urfa kebab after the city of urfa which is right next to adana.
of course there is some funny rivalry between the two as well.
macellan@reddit
Gyros ~= Döner (Both means something related to spinning) Kebab ~= Kebap (Akkadian/Assyrian origin, "to fry/to burn")
Illustrious-Fig1442@reddit
This. This is how they should be classified in the textbooks.
Also, kebab, as the etymology suggests, should be considered a cooking method. To cook something in the open fire is making kebab. Therefore döner, shawarma, gyros, and other skewed meat alternatives, should be considered kebabs.
Culturally, however, people have their own understandings for these.
Mucklord1453@reddit
Gyros tastes better, has more history behind it. Turks come from central Asia that has basically no trees and so their cooking was done with horse manure in pits.
AskBalkans-ModTeam@reddit
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Practical-Tooth-2217@reddit
Yes
stavro24496@reddit
Those from Athens have no idea what you are comparing.
vus7_@reddit
Assuming you are trying to say döner, it is very different and It doesn’t even stop there. Döner in Germany is different to döner in Uk, or döner in USA. There are different kinds of döner in different parts of Turkey too. Istanbul döner to Ankara Döner, Bursa döner to Karadeniz Döner, Bayburt Döner, Erzurum Döner, Hatay Döner. The name is the same but there are clear differences on taste ,content of the ingredients and how it’s cooked.
Takadant@reddit
kebab refers to skewered grilling methods. shawarma, doner & gyro use vertical rotisserie. so they're different cooking methods/foods
BamBumKiofte23@reddit
Kebab is a whole category of food, gýros is a copycat version of a subset of that category. Both are good anyway, as long as you don't care what animal died so you can enjoy your sandwich-adjacent food.
Kitsooos@reddit
You bet your ass I care what animal died.
I like eating dead pigs, but I don't really like eating dead lambs. They are not tasty.
Significant-Ad-7182@reddit
EXCUSE ME? Lamb tastes better.
Nikoschalkis1@reddit
Don't mind him. City dwellers can not appreciate the gamey taste of goat and lamb. Outside Athens where people know how to eat, weekend excursions usually contain grilled lamb chops which fucking SLAP ASS.
sokolobo@reddit
There's a difference between grilled lamb chops and the lamb "yeeros" they serve abroad.
Kitsooos@reddit
Κατέβα Πελοπόννησο να φας γουρουνοπούλα ή χοιρινό κοντοσούβλι και τα ξαναλέμε μετά.
Nikoschalkis1@reddit
Φίλε είμαι από Εύβοια, η διαγωγή μου με αναγκάζει να τρώω προβατίνα.
Kitsooos@reddit
Είχα ένα συμφοιτητή Αρβανίτη από νότια Εύβοια που μου έλεγε τα ίδια.
Τον πήγα μια φορά σε γιορτή γουρουνοπούλας στην Πελοπόννησο, εκεί που είναι οι σωστοί οι Αρβανίτες οι Ορθόδοξοι, και από τότε έχει μπει στον ίσιο δρόμο.
Nikoschalkis1@reddit
Έχω καταγωγή από πύργο και κατεβαίνω που και που για γουρνοπουλα. Απο την άλλη η κοπέλα μου είναι από Θήβα όπως και καταλαβεινεις ο πατέρας της πεθαίνει για προβατίνα. Δεν υπάρχει σύγκριση φίλε στη γεύση το πρόβατο είναι πύραυλος.
Kitsooos@reddit
Gtfo. They don't. Pork and rabbit are by far the 2 tastiest meats.
Planpy7@reddit
Rabbit???????
Kitsooos@reddit
Fuck Yeah !!!
https://www.google.com/search?q=lagos+stifado&sca_esv=b15e692cad2bee86&udm=2&biw=1536&bih=695&sxsrf=ANbL-n4pCYdRdjp03oOxpcLAeHxGbpxiow%3A1778849497524&ei=2RYHatrWH5GCxc8P4qWdmA8&ved=0ahUKEwiap6LjqruUAxURQfEDHeJSB_MQ4dUDCBM&uact=5&oq=lagos+stifado&gs_lp=Egtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZyINbGFnb3Mgc3RpZmFkbzIFEAAYgAQyBBAAGB4yBBAAGB5I2htQoARY4hRwAXgAkAEAmAFtoAHXBaoBAzUuM7gBA8gBAPgBAZgCBqACxwPCAgYQABgIGB7CAgcQIxjJAhgnwgIGEAAYBxgemAMAiAYBkgcDNS4xoAelGrIHAzQuMbgHwwPCBwUwLjQuMsgHEIAIAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-img#sv=CAMSVhoyKhBlLW80Y01Na2tfWVVlR3pNMg5vNGNNTWtrX1lVZUd6TToOZ2hlZWozZGMyWWF6UU0gBCocCgZtb3NhaWMSEGUtbzRjTU1ra19ZVWVHek0YADABGAcgsNrhhw9KCBABGAEgASgB
Planpy7@reddit
This is making me angry
Kitsooos@reddit
You need some rabbit meat to calm your nerves.
Planpy7@reddit
I aint a monster
Kitsooos@reddit
Significant-Ad-7182@reddit
Kitsooos@reddit
Jokes aside, spit roasted pork in southern Greece, mostly the Pelloponese, is godlike.
Significant-Ad-7182@reddit
I have only been to the Rhodes, Samos and Symi and mostly just ate seafood never had the chance to visit Pelloponese. (love the wars between Sparta and Athens)
I will try to it though thanks for the tip!
Kitsooos@reddit
Kitsooos@reddit
InformationTop3437@reddit
That's what I also thought for 40 years. I've tried eating lamb on multiple occasions, never liked it. And Romania has thousands of years of history of raising sheep. My own grandfather was a shepherd and I grew up surrounded by hundreds of sheep. Never ever liked the meat and especially the smell. Until I tried lamb cooked by a Turk, and I loved it. :)))
BamBumKiofte23@reddit
I can't argue with your tastebuds, I also enjoy eating dead pigs more than I enjoy eating dead lambs. It is what it is.
Fart_Oolong@reddit
Oh i love eating dead lamb
Tridentnutella@reddit
Döner with beef is usually mixed with lamb and contains domba (lamb fat, often from their tails and buttocks) to varying degrees.
Some turkish establishments go easier on the lamb fat while others go full on uzbek (= lamb fat frenzy) lol.
I personally can deal with lamb fat only with difficulty (especially the smell) and therefore prefer chicken gyros but people in turkey, uzbekistan, afghanistan etc. really love their lamb fat
ChocolateAddictions@reddit
Yes, there is.
Gyros is pork or chicken, and it’s the fatty part of the animal on a skewer. The skewer turns and you cut from the outside.
Kebab is minced meat, beef/lamb in a stick or it’s cut from the skewer. It’s also known as doner kebab and adana kebab. Adana kebab is on a stick, doner kebab is on a gyre that moves, and it’s cut on the outside just like gyros.
They are two different things, completely.
Orthodox-Paradox@reddit
For the real connoisseurs out there, the best version is the ultra rare beef gyros in lagana bread. There is only shop that I know of , that still makes this.
The best way to enjoy it is tzatzaki, onion, pepper flakes and russian/olivier salad.
Otherwise, spices, thickness, pita or bread and sauces are what makes them (gyro and doner kebab ) different products.
Dimo145@reddit
Be aware that many places use same words for different things. Doner and Kebab, some places use interchangeably, but Kebab also reffered to skewered meat iirc. Gyros in simple words is the Greek version of doner. Greeks use different flat bread, idk what turkey uses. There's also shawarma, there's also doner kebab, which also has the rotisseried chicken/pork meat (depends on the joint ofc, some are halal and don't offer pork), the dif between those two in some countries ig is one being enclosed, and the other being an open top.
I probably confused lots of things as well, but here's my Bulgarian pov
Roufianos255@reddit
I mean, despite the meat being made a similar way, they taste super different when you factor in the rest of the meal.
At least in London, a gyro and a kebab are nothing alike. Both delicious though, been too long since I've had kebab now you mention it.
-Passenger-@reddit
ofc there is a difference, its not even close
ofc its a matter of personal opinion, I love Turkish food but havent eaten a Kebab in ages, but I eat Gyros regularly.
tomatos_raafatos@reddit
Not even close? So they aren't both grilled meat rotated on a spit sliced to shreds and served on flatbread?
-Passenger-@reddit
talking here about kebab (döner) and Gyros. The taste is not even close
served on flatbread is optional, I never eat it on flatbread
and there is a difference in the bread used, the Gyros Pita bread is pretty much different than the Döner Kebab bread (ofc only my experience in Germany). you could add the variety Dürüm, which basically is not bread, its kinda Yufka
Also Kebab is different. Döner Kebab and Adana Kebab are different things...
AntiKouk@reddit
Meat is different animal and spiced differently. Bread fluffier pita in gyros and more flat in kebab. Gyros has chips. Salad is different. Onion & tomato in gyros, no leaves. Sauces are different. The concept is to same all the individual parts are different
TinyAsianMachine@reddit
Very different tbh, less in common than a burrito and shwarma imo.
OldYogurt7161@reddit
Kebab is the name of a branch of food
The question should be are there any difference between döner and gyros.
I guess there should be difference between Gyros in Greece and Döner in Turkey. But for European countries like UK they are same thing without any relation with both Greece and Turkey. When I was in UK I have wanted to try Gyros. When I just ordered my gyros the chef started to talk loudly in Turkish. I was shocked and enlightened that there is no difference between döner and gyros in England.
Early-Show2886@reddit
In Germany more Turkish Döner then Gyors.
There's a döner shop on every corner in Germany.
OldYogurt7161@reddit
Yurt dışı için döner ve gyros aynı şey kıymadan yapmıyorlar mı onlarda yani oturup eti teker teker ayırıp sonrada günlerce marine etmiyorlarki.
Early-Show2886@reddit
Hayır, Almanya'da döner tamamen farklıdır. Gyros'a ise neredeyse hiç rastlanmaz. Gyros'un görünümü de Almanya'daki dönerden tamamen farklıdır.
LeDEvRo@reddit
There is but many Turkish fast foods say we sell gyros/doner ..which is unrelated to gyros
OldYogurt7161@reddit
Which is unrelated to Döner as well. These meats (I certainly do have doubts if they are meat or not) are all factory-made. You are just buying capitalism.
LeDEvRo@reddit
I live outside Greece and all "gyros" that I tried is basically poor doner that is not even doner indeed. So I make my own at home and it's delicious and also way cheaper
Dramatic-View-7792@reddit
One is flat, one is round?
Kitsooos@reddit
They are both round. What am I missing here ?
Dramatic-View-7792@reddit
My mind went straight to Adana, I’m so hungry haha
Kitsooos@reddit
I need answers. Which one is flat ? There is flat kebab ?
Dramatic-View-7792@reddit
Adana is rounded, and gyros is like shaved meat so it’s flat? Maybe I’m the problem 😭😅
Kitsooos@reddit
Ah ok I got it. You meant just the meat. I thought you meant the entire "sandwitch".
Dramatic-View-7792@reddit
I also become round after having one 🫡
Fart_Oolong@reddit
Kebab in turkistan is different from kebab in greece
o6u2h4n@reddit
Kebab from Bursa is different than kebab from Adana or kebab from Tokat. Its natural to have different kebabs in different places.
NorthWelcome1626@reddit
Kebap contains all of meat meals including fried, roasted and rotated type of meat (döner/shawarma). The origin is Levantine Arabs I think.
Döner's origins is Turks. Because of the vertical rotating machine. The fats sizzle below towards the meat, not to the ground, and it makes the meat tastier.
Gyros is the copy of Döner. It's just a Greek name.
ahmet-chromedgeic@reddit
Not a Turk, but IMO just using different meat while everything else being pretty much the same doesn't merit being called a different meal. After all - you can have chicken doner kebab, but it can also be made of lamb or beef. Gyros can also be made of chicken and it's still a gyros. So for me it's the same thing.
abki12c@reddit
The difference is that Gyros is better. Also i suppose you mean doner kebab, in Greece when we say kebab we mean the kind of kebab like Adana kebab
PainOk1877@reddit (OP)
just to add,difference between doner and gyros.not kebab and gyros.
Early-Show2886@reddit
The meat is different—the taste; I mean, you can tell the difference between a gyros and a döner. The spices—both may be similar, but there is definitely a difference.