Kebab Where Have You Been?
This is for the travelers out there who look at each trip as a chapter in your life. The unique experiences of food just happen to be a must have in each chapter of your story.
You find yourself in a different part of the world being adventurous and traveling. Just out late enjoying what the culture has to offer. To get even more specific you are in London in an area called Shoreditch, and you have been out on a pub crawl with friends. You are tired, but your stomach is just talking to you saying you are are starving. What do you do? There are many options for you to eat, but there is nothing really familiar to you except a burger. In the back of your mind you say, “Did I really travel all the way to London to have a burger I could get back in the states?” The answer is “no.” So many unfamiliar options to choose from, but you look at a to-go plate filled with hot steaming fresh fries, with what looks like shaved beef on top, and some mixture of sauces.
It looks very filling and smells delicious. So you ask, “What is that food called?” The answer is a kebab. Now traditionally a kebab is roasted meat either served on a skewer or in some type of bread like a pita. Kebab has very old origins and at the most simplistic form is roasted meat on a skewer over a fire. The Middle East claims to have been the originators of the kebab, but there are several different versions of the kebab from Norway’s version served with corn and other vegetables to India’s version served in traditional curry flavors. Now in widespread modern tradition a kebab is roasted meat either served on a skewer or in some type of bread like a pita. Instead of this traditional kebab, “Londoners” because they love chips (chips being fries) leave out the pita and replaces it with chips. So to cap your night off in the great town of London you have to order a kebab, which is considered one of the original cheap street food or fast food.
The kebab shop will start by giving you a heaping bunch of hot steak like fries. Then they will proceed to ask you if you want lamb or chicken. To get the full experience you should be adventurous and say both. To finish it all off they ask you if you want a number of sauces like garlic sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup depending where you are, and some shops have their own kebab sauce. You should probably just try it all. This kebab would be the ending of a great night. You will lay down full and satisfied, and probably dream about the next time you can try this mouthful of flavors.
These are one of the many adventures you will discover as a young traveler enjoying the night experience from various cities around the world. Every place is different and has various things to offer. Food connects people in so many ways, and often times can be a pipeline to experiencing a new culture. Some people’s only chance to experience a new culture is through tasting the food, and recording that memory in their brains.
