Shawarma Glossary

Equipment

• Vertical spit (Şiş) — the rotating axis on which the meat stack is built.
• Stack / cone — the entire layered block of meat.
• Shawarma knife — a long flexible blade, manual or electric.
• Plancha — a hot surface for warming bread and finishing the char.
• Taboon / saj — clay oven and metal dome for baking bread.

Technique

• Maillard — the browning reaction that creates crust and aroma.
• Self-basting — fat running down from the upper layers.
• Fat cap — a fat layer or bone at the top of the stack.
• Shaving — cutting only the cooked outer face.

Breads

• Pita — pocket bread.
• Lafa — thin flexible flatbread.
• Markook / saj — ultra-thin bread.
• Samoon — Iraqi boat-shaped bread.
• Dürüm — Turkish doner wrap.

Sauces and toppings

• Tahini — sesame paste sauce.
• Toum — Lebanese garlic emulsion.
• Amba — Iraqi pickled mango sauce.
• S'chug — Yemeni hot pepper relish.
• Tzatziki — Greek yogurt-cucumber sauce.

Trade terms

• Yield — served meat as a percentage of raw weight.
• Food cost — ingredient cost relative to selling price.
• HSP — Halal Snack Pack, shawarma over chips.
• Al pastor — the Mexican descendant of shawarma.