SANTORINI EATS: Obelix
Dear Foodie Fam,
Obelix: our FAVE Greek eat and hands down: one of my FAVE places to eat IN THE WORLD!
Obelix is named after a character in Greek cartoons called Asterix and Obelix- not the architecture (you can tell because he is all over the printed branding). It's Greek fast food in Thira (Fira) right off the Central Square. We went there several times and the same guys manned this walk-up restaurant with the same amiability each time. The menu is HUGE and they helped us make sense of it with patience and humor. It's cheap stuff, too. You can eat it all.
DUTCH -while reading menu- to CHEF: "What is an Arabian pita? What's the difference from a regular one?"
CHEF: "Where you from?"
DUTCH: "California."
CHEF: "You know San Francisco?"
DUTCH: "Yes."
CHEF: "Regular pita, San Francisco. Arabian Pita? New York."
Still not 100% what that means...
Here's what I DO know:
You can order the gyros on Arabian pitas. Shawarmas are served on Arabian pitas like gyros are, shawarmas are very different than gyros. Greek gyros as we know it came around after WWII and were actually brought to Greece by Middle Eastern and Turkish immigrants. These were called döner kebabs.
We had Obelix's chicken gyro and beef gyro. Gyro (Greek: γύρο "YEE-roh") actually means "turn"! This is because the meat is supposed to be cooked on a vertical spit.
Fries in gyros... I CANNOT find how and why this idea of putting them in gyros began! Usually, I don't as much care if it's in my gyro as long as it's not just there to fill space and it's not distracting from my MEAT!
Did you know tzatziki is easy to make (I use to make a fresh supply, weekly for Dutch)? It's yogurt (preferably sheep or goat origin), cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice, dill, mint, parsley, thyme etc.
We had a delicious "Philadelphia" gyro. The original "Philadelphia Cream Cheese" was sold in the late 1880s by Lawrence & Durland in NY but the title "Philadelphia" was sold. Today, the word "Philadelphia" in a menu, you know there's cream cheese.
Souvlaki (Greek: σουβλάκι "Su Vlaki") is Greek fast food of morsels of meat grilled on a skewer. This is souvlaki.
These are kebabs and were tender, juicy and seasoned to perfection.
Kebabs originated in the Middle Ages in Persia (modern day Iraq) served with wine (I've never had it that way!). What we know as the Kebab (according to Robert Sietsema: Eater, New York) originated before Turkey's Ottoman Empire (1301-1922)! The kebab has since ventured to the Middle East, North Africa, and Greece. During the spread of Islam, it even ventured to Indonesia, Nigeria, Japan...
