Souvlaki | Basics with Babish
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
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Well done. As a Greek who makes these very regularly for the family, the only real criticisms I have are that I usually triple the amount of garlic you put in the tzatziki, and I usually cut the meat a bit smaller to get a better char to interior ratio. Also, add a bit of salt and Greek oregano to the oil used for brushing the pitas on the grill. It gives a boost of flavor to the sandwich.
Otherwise, opa!
Thanks for these tips! Im looking to try this out soon so any tidbits I can get help out
@@Kritical_Blink As a non greek who loves greek food, my tip would be to try some tirokafteri on top. It elevated my already sky high opinion of souvlaki.
A bunch of garlic in the tzatziki is not traditional, not atleast according to my grandma and most restaurants in Greece. It is a cucumber sauce, not a garlic sauce
@@thelsamar23 a bunch of garlic is only for the REAL tzatziki lovers. Sorry not sorry. Only reason not to do it is if you have a date in the next 48 hours.
A date that is more important than your date with several cloves of garlic? Pffft
Hi, Greek here and i can pretty surely say that the tastiest souvlakia are made with neck and belly parts of the pork as they can hold up to the higher temparatures of charcoal grilling which is the traditional way of making them.
Ναι είναι καλά έτσι
hey not a greek. no one cares
@@ironkraken7157 bro go somewhere else you little sea urchin
@@johnblades3019 ok bro. sorry bro. didnt mean to harsh your buzz bro.
@@johnblades3019 also, come up with better insults. sea urchin? really?
In terms of the fries, you can try and tackle proper "Patates Tiganites" like you would get in Greece. From what I've read the secret is soaking the potatoes in water for an hour, so when you deep fry them in the olive oil the outer layer becomes puffy and bubbly while the inside is soft. They're also closer to British style chips than American french fries in terms of thickness.
Yup. This is how my mum makes them. And at least in Cyprus - not sure if Greeks do it as well - you can dress them with some dried oregano herb on top - lightly just for the fragrance.
And for the even more original greek experience, fry them in sunflower seed oil, not olive oil!
You wash them until most of the starch is gone, you know when the starch is gone when you place them in a bowl of water and the water doest go cloudy, also you salt them just before you throw them into the pan of hot oil.
Oh I so have to try this now!
my yiayia shallow slow fries them in olive oil and its the greatest
Maybe you could make Pretty Patties from SpongeBob SquarePants? And throw in Sequin Milkshake and Bow-Tie French Fries as a bonus.
@Matty Kelly I dunno why but I remember him doing pretty patties
Maybe no
Why do you immediately ask for something else after he posts? It's so rude, you're like a spoiled child
They would be creepy but flattering
@@TobyFloof Those were krabby patties
Some of my best memories of Greece were of souvlaki with friends. I bought a big bag of the seasoning off a street vendor in Athens in 2008 and have come close to madness trying to get the mix right ever since.
At home my family uses sumac, oregano, cumin, black pepper, and sesame seeds, but probs different.
@@yiorgarra I can't use sumac it gives me a nasty rash every time I tried
@@serronserron1320 then don't lol
You have to have a Greek friend.
try olive oil sweet paprika, oregano, sea salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, let the gyros marinade in it for 12 hours. thank me later. Pork shoulder and pork belly should do the trick. Be generous with the seasoning, too.
And here I thought that Souvlaki was just one of the best shoegaze albums of the last 30 years
i was looking for this comment
IT MATTERS WHERE YOU ARE
most overatted imo.. slowdive in general
This is so weird, i've been eating souvlaki for the last 2 days because in my home town we used to have a greek resturant which unfortunatly burned down 2 years ago, opened 2 days ago again and i've been eating souvlaki for lunch and dinner every single meal since they opened.
Souvlaki is love, souvlaki is life. You can't go wrong with that choice!
I've been making it because the Street Fighter Cookbook has a recipe for it
I suggest trying souvlaki with paprika sauce, its pretty common in northern Greece.
Fun fact only Athenians call Souvlaki as this because souvla in greek means skewer so souvlaki should be meat thats on a stick, as in skewered. In the rest of Greece we call it "pita bread with ...." and souvlaki the skewered meat which often includes vegetables like peppers.
As a Greek, this is one of the best souvlaki recipes on CZcams. It would be the best if you had a Gyro version, but I understand that most people don't have a Gyro spinning grill at the top self. Perhaps an oven version would be perfect. Amazing job on the tzatziki too
Getting Gyros or Moussaka or other sorts of dishes that are way harder to make at home is what I love to get at my local Greek restaurant. Lamb cutlets, souvlaki, and bifteki are all great, but they really are something I could feasibly make at home. And, yes, I could make Moussaka at home as well, but when you’re cooking for one, making such a large casserole-type dish is just kind of impractical. :laugh:
Genuinely just realized that a Gyro is just souvlaki made with the rotisserie thing
I usually just prep gyro meat as a meatloaf, and then slice it.
@@puellanivis maybe do it every now and then as a special occasion. I always like to plan a day that I will spend at least half a day cooking every now and then
Including the fries? Those didn’t seem very authentic/traditional to me.
In terms of the water, it's now about having the wood "soaked" but giving enough water on the surface to stop the skewers from "spot catching" where they can catch gas flames and break into pieces or lose structural integrity if the outside gets too charred. Had it happen when I didn't use water.
If you skewer on the grill a lot just get metal skewers. No hassles and I bought 12 for less than $5.
I'm a Greek, I was expecting to be disappointed by this video and I had my pitchfork ready. But I was pleasantly surprised! This is actually legit! If you guys wanna follow a recipe, this is the one.
I'd love to see you make Clam-entine Crystal from Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated episode, "Where Walks Aphrodite"
No
can’t wait for him to make loveless next!
I understood that reference
Different approach for the tzatziki: swap the the red wine vinegar for fresh lemon juice, swap the dill for fresh smashed garlic, add some toasted whole cumin seeds. Keep the olive oil and cucumber the same.
Best w sheep's milk yogurt.
yeah, I have never heard of red wine vinegar, it's always been lemon juice. Also, I know this isn't traditional, but I use sour cream in lieu of yogurt and absolutely love it.
I like to use mint instead of dill.
@@michaelcannon7640 I love mint, but I don't think it works in the sauce. But that's the great thing about cooking, people can make it however they like it!
@@MauiWowieOwie yes. I’m not a fan of dill, but I do like a little mint in tzatziki. You should give it a try along with a little lemon juice.
@@michaelcannon7640 I have tried it, I don't like it. I always put lemon juice in my sauce though.
Well babish, as a Greek I would say that you have successfully tackled pita and that it is approved. Although you could have not put dill in the tzatziki but that's more of a personal preference.
Pitta is not Greek though.
@@Lilah1848 it's Mediterranean and from Asia Minor, which absolutely includes Greece
Είναι
@@Lilah1848 ...pitta is a Greek word....all the Mediterranean countries have similar breads
I agree with you 100%, i prefer tzatsiki without dill aswell.
Yo they made the slowdive album into a real thing!
How does one do a Souvlaki episode without using “Slowdive” as a pun?
The souvlaki looks fantastic though!
Facts, certainly a missed opportunity
fr
Try some fresh minced dill with the tzatziki. Makes all the difference, and plays well with souvlaki. Athenian showing up
Could you explain the pun? I am not very knowledgeable on Greece yet but I want to learn about it and I have no idea what the pun is
@@tacosunbirth Ok, so there is a 90's musical álbum of the genre of shoegaze called souvlaki made by slowdive. This album was received with harsh critics when it came out, but 20 years later it had a revival, around 2010. It went on to become a more famous album since then, and now it stands as one of the best shoegaze albums in history. The album was named souvlaki by the band, because they had seen a sketch on a TV series which mentioned the word souvlaki, they thought it was interesting and they chose that word. There is more information about it in the Wikipedia page, if you are interested, which has plenty of sources listed at the bottom.
This is the most accurate how to make souvlaki video that there is on internet.....From the way you pull it using the pita bread to the point you fold the bottom half of tinfoil
I love that slowdive album
Literally in Greece right now and this pops up.
Enjoy our gorgeous country!
As someone with greek family, babish is my hero for not putting mint in the tzatziki
chuck the sticks and water into a vac bag and then vac it for a minute, even when all the air is out continue too vac for 30 more seconds or so, that will help draw out all air in the sticks and water will fill the voids when the vaccum is broken
I’m so happy. I just got back from being abroad in greece and was never able to figure out how to make souvlaki
Watching this whilst devouring a souvlaki in bed is a certain kind of happiness I can't really explain...
Well done! I am Greek and this the closest anyone has ever gotten to a traditional Greek pita with a skewer (pita souvlaki or pita kalamaki). 🇬🇷💙
Hey Babish, Greek here. I think you have made the most gourmet version of my favourite meal I have ever seen, so thank you.
I'm in constant awe at how many things you know how to make. I'm no Greek cuisine connoisseur by any means, but that looks fantastic
And you started a war without even knowing it.
.
.
.
For context, there a lot of heated debate over what this dish should be called in Greece. Some call it Gyro, others Souvlaki. The main issue stems from Souvlaki being defined as meat on a skewer. So there's a fun fact for you.
i guess he is going for the Athenian terminology where souvlaki is the whole package. Also no-one calls this gyro because it doesn't have gyro in it.
@@TheFreakingSanic That's true, I was more referring to the greater debate as a joke. Obviously the pita has souvlaki in it.
this would be called kalamaki in athens, whereas grabbing souvlaki would be the general term.
🙄
Joining my fellow Greeks here, I have to say that most people (myself included) prefer chicken with a type of yellow or orange sauce not tzatziki. Usually the sauce is made of mayo and mustard in different percentages and a whole list of other ingredients.
Also you should try some chicken-bacon (chicken pieces wrapped in bacon) instead of just chicken.
Dude the fact that you started with pork or chicken already makes it more authentic than most recipes. OPA!
FYI, You soak your WOODEN skewers so that they expand with the water. During cooking the water evaporates allowing the skewers to contract allowing easier removal of the meat, vegetables, etc.
I'm more partial to gyros myself, but this definitely looks amazing.
Also, never seen red wine vinegar added to tzatiki.
In Greece they use red wine vinegar to make tzatziki. In Cyprus lemon juice is more common. White rice vinegar is also an option
As a Turkish, neither have I seen red wine vinnegar in our cacik as well
I had only ever heard of these on Hey Arnold, and being from rural Pennsylvania, I never knew what they were. Knowledge is power.
As a Greek-I approve this souvlaki.
Greek here, this is the most accurate souvlaki I have ever seen on the internet. Just a little comment, just one clove a garlic for this amount of TZATZIKI is weak man. Your breath should stink of garlic after eating souvlaki.
by Slowdive?
can't believe he didn't even show us how to make our own homemade greek olive oil, and he calls this "from scratch"
And he didn't even show us how to make our own kitchen equipment, talk about a sell out
as a greek i have to say you nailed this!!!!!!!!!! using olive oil in everything is an authentic greek thing to do!
Bravo re Babish as a greek this is a greek recipe worth trying. Na here Levendi
Please make Robbie Rotten's Blue Cake from Lazy Town
Couldn't have done a better job! Looks like I'm going for Souvlaki tonight here in Thessaloniki Greece!
As a Greek person, I can say I'm quite impressed! Your tzatziki looked pretty spot on! I wonder if you'd like to do pastitsio any time soon.
Why not just make an original Greek dish? Pastitsio is just a different version of lasagna...
@@LKonstantina915 how dare you speak such blasphemy about pastitsio.
is this a mainland greek thing cause for us greek Cypriots it is blasphemy to put dill in tzatziki
@@costatubhd958 yeah i found the dill a little weird too
@@LKonstantina915 i just mentioned it because it was one of my favourite foods when I was younger, I'd love to see him make all sorts of Greek cuisine.
i am from greece and i can say this was a great video it looks a lot like what i have at my area now i need to see a baklava video
He has a Baklava video I believe :)
He does have a baklava video
We own this comment section lol (btw where's your bird?)
Thx for telling me didn't know he had one now i have something more to watch
@@jswsofocus no problem 👍
Scrolling through the comments looking for slowdive references
Try to make Double Onion Ice Cream Cake from Infinity Train! See if you like eating something sweet and stinky at the same time
Try no
Far too often, when I lived in Larisa, dinner was some souvlaki from the shop next to my apartment and a bottle of tsipouro. Miss those days.
What if on Tuesday before or after the 4th of July, you made Major Glory's All American Buffet Breakfast Bonanza from The Justice Friends episode, "Valhallen's Room"?
Or The Firework Cake from 2017 DuckTales
What if no
I love the slow build up of open singleton bottles in the background
Oh yes that's a Greek souvlaki alright. Great job with this one, and I would recommend you to try gemista next time it's a very tasty ,and one of the most traditional, dish.
Not only was the souvlaki done right, the tzaziki was pretty spot on too (the red wine vinegar was a surprise, but it reads across).
As a Greek I must say this is by far the most authentic souvlaki recipe out there! Props to actually gratting and squeezing the cucumber properly as well!
Hey, (Athenian) Greek here! A little bit of trivia: the two most common default ("απ'όλα"=with everything) combinations for souvlaki served in Athens is either pork with tzatziki or chicken with mustard sauce. Of course you can customize it however you want (people will judge you silently). If you go to nothern parts of Greece you will find ketchup and mustard in there as well (those northern people are savages...)
If you squeeze water out of the cukes before salting, you can mix the liquid with simple syrup, lemon jucie and seltzer to make a really tasty and refreshing cucumber lemonade. Then you can add salt to the grated cucumber to extract more moisture.
When you need to use both salt and garlic, mash the garlic together with the salt with a mortar and pestle. The abrasiveness of the salt will help ensure a smoother garlic paste.
I have to try this. Thanks for the video!
On behalf of the Undertale community, seeing you make Toriel’s Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie.
I find that slow-cooked lamb on a spit roast over some charcoal is the best meat you can get for these. It's actually one of the best meats period, but it goes especially well in souvlaki. The only downside is the immense amount of effort and time it takes to prepare it just for a few wraps.
I may be wrong but I believe the big reason for soaking the wooden skewers is less because of burning and mainly to reconstitute the wood to prevent splintering
Here's the thing...Every Greek will have strong opinions, but I think you missed 3 essential steps/ingredients. The meat marinade needed some Greek Yogurt. Not a huge amount, but some, it really helps with the crispy meat experience. The Souvlaki spice mix also needs cinnamon. Both the marinade and the grilling sauce. And finally...those Greek style fries needed to be sprinkled with dried oregano straight out of the oil, I usually have a salt/oregano spice mix just for that. But otherwise, well done.
1:59 Greek dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
Since I ended up getting Korean food for my birthday this year, I was actually mulling over if I should get Greek or Pakistani food next year. Seeing you cover Greek food today was perfect timing.
Soaking skewers is to avoid splinters, not burning.
What if you made the Ethiopian Dish that Marge, Bart, and Lisa were eating from The Simpsons episode, "The Food Wife"? Or at least make it in your 9 million subscribers video
What if no
gyros/souvlaki are my absolute FAVORITE food ever and i’ve been waiting for you to do an episode for forever!!!! you did a great job - the amount of people who skip the dill in the tzatziki (or even worse, use MINT instead) is truly horrifying.
Dill is essential. I like mint, but it has no place in tzatiki.
Many Greeks don’t put dill in Tzatziki, and it is a regional variation that many Greek Cypriots make which puts mint. So please don’t call it horrifying just because it is not the particular version you are personally accustomed to. They are still valid versions depending on what kind of Greek you are
i went to greece about 6 weeks ago and have decided to make it my personality, so thank you for this!
i was looking for things to correct you on but other than dill being used in souvlaki (which at the end of the day is personal preference) it actually looks just like what you'd get here, great job!
Frying fries in olive oil is something that we don't do often in Greece. We usually use sunflower oil to fry stuff. Furthermore, we don't add olive oil to the souvlaki....
Another Greek here, techically you've made souvlaki and yiros: souvlaki being the mini skewers (small souvla, souvla being the spit we roast meat on) and yiros being the pita wrap. Both look amazing!! Could also try lamb, still very traditional and tastes amazing with tzatziki 🤤 great job with the marinades and tzatziki recipe!
Everyone I know would call this souvlaki, or maybe to be more precise souvlaki me pita or souvlaki tilikta. Gyros is for the gyros shaved meat on the rotator. I’ve never seen lamb in a pita souvlaki style like this
For any people who aren't greek, the combinations you can make with souvlaki is endless and the best part is that every combination tastes amazing
This is my favorite shoegaze album to eat.
Tzatziki is probably my favorite sauce. Delicious, easy to make, not unreasonably unhealthy, yet versatile. Pairs with ALL meats and sides.
I'd love to see you make Clam-entine Crystal from Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated episode, "Where Walks Aphrodite"
9
I used to live near a family run Greek joint that has the best Greek coffee, Gyros, and Souvlaki. Now I live half an how away from them, so not that far for Texas standards, but close enough that I can go there every once in a while when I'm in the area.
It was run by this old couple, and thenwife will make deserts for her large family and bring leftovers to the resteraunt to hand out to her favorite customers. She makes amazing orange cake and baklava. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Heck yeah souvlaki! You should follow up with a handful of regional variants. Like Cypriot Souvlaki, or another continent's souvlaki
No.
Cypriot souvlaki has a special place in my heart. But souvla reigns supreme.
It’s cute that you used a full sized spray bottle for your absinthe rinse. You should look into an atomizer for more control and to have less of your product sitting in the bottle.
Ώστε έφτιαξες και σουβλάκι ρε Μπάμπη. Μπράβο!!
xaxxaxaxaxaxaxa
Μπάμπης
I'm Greek and I approve this. Only differences in tzatziki is that I take out the core of the cucumber, I don't use dill, but I use parsley instead and a bit of cayenne pepper for a small kick. Other than that, spot on!
Ok so I'm sure a million others have thought about this already, but we need to see you recreating the beef sandwich from "The Bear", asap.
My fav album💯💯
A meal that doesn't involve chili! YES! (I'm not against a bit of heat from mustard or horseradish, just allergic to capsaicin)
I know I can always tweak recipes to suit tastes but it's nice every so often not to have to, it seems like a wild majority of people equate interesting flavours with "must contain chili of some kind" so it's very refreshing to see something like this.
This sounds amazing and I definitely have to try it some time.
You should look up more european recipe as those tend to have less chili in them. From what I understand, they're really popular in north and south america but here in europe you find them in few recipe.
@@iomar90 I live in the UK and honestly everything has chili in it. I tend to stick to Mediterranean or Japanese style foods just because they tend to have a lot of flavour but not heat. Adding even the smallest bit of chili to anything just destroys any flavour that might be there and replaces it with pain, I don't understand the point. But I was more commenting on how a lot of cooking vids on CZcams tend to rely on chili as a universal way to "easily upgrade" basics, and that's what gets frustrating.
I just came back from Greece on holiday. As a person of greek origin also, I can say that you did an excellent job. Only thing I'd add is a bit of oregano on the pitta. It's also very common to have a salad leaf in the souvlaki instead. Bravo Babish!
Perfect Souvlaki! I am not from Greece, but we have some nice greek street food here and It is basically the same.
N.o
nice ! A tip : keep your souvlakia stuck close one an other while on the BBQ so they remain juicy !
There was a Cypriot food stand in my university city and I used to get one of these if I was ever excessively hungover. No wonder I put on about a stone in my first year 😂😂😂
Cypriot pitta is different to Greek pitta shown in this video but besides that the preparation and cooking of the meat is the same. Cypriot pitta is usually thinner, crunchier and .. larger in size.. i guess we are to Greeks what Americans are to the British, oversized portions everywhere xD
I’m Greek 💙🇬🇷 your souvlaki recipe is great but I always add a little lemon or Red wine vinegar to the marinate!
Ξίδι!
For a dessert recipe, do you think it might be possible if you could make the Norweigen Black Forest Feather Cake Truffle Divine recipe from Hoodwinked Too? It looks amazing and the recipe and some of the ingredients are shown, so would love to see you recreate it!!
Spent two weeks in Greece a bunch of years ago, and I LIVED on gyros the whole time. It was one of the best parts of the trip lol
Amazing 😍 Greetings from Scotland 😊 Excellent combination with Singleton whisky 👌🏻👌🏻 Have a great day everyone 🌻
dude souvlaki is like one of my favorite bands glad you made a video about them
souvlaki is an album by slowdive
You got the Greek seal of approval!! Greetings from Athens!
It'd be nice to eat souvlaki again someday, thanks for bringing back memories of being in Greece, Babish
imagine eating Souvlaki while listening to Souvlaki (Slowdive album)
I wish
Pinch the pita over the end of the skewer and the front at the same time while pulling it out, this way the meat comes off perfectly
I love Slowdive
Don’t use a wire brush for your grill!! The wires can release from the brush and end up in your food, there’s been at least one documented death from exactly that.
My Greek genes summoned me early 🇬🇷
Loll me too
Μπεΐσικς with Μπάμπης
Just came back from Greece, I might just do this out of nostalgia
I just came home from greece and you did a freaking great job there. Except for the Dill. I had Tzaziki more than 10 times there from Restaurants, Taverns and from Streetfood and it never had dill. And I would have known because I hate that stuff and can smell it from 10 miles away.
Also most greek Restaurant made their frys from scratch without double frying them so they always were soggy but that's something which doesn't need to be authentic I guess ;)
Edit: I ocationally had some dill in turkish white sauce sometimes but they also leave out the cucumber. I've mainly been to the west and also in Athens so maybe that's something they do in the north east corner closer to Turkey.
Interesting, my Greek Cypriot family would be horrified at using Dill. Mint every time.
Same as a Greek dill isn't really common in tzaztiki
Finishing with lemon juice is not optional, it is a MUST
That looks delicious. Never had fries in my souvlakis.
ive had them on the side. still the way he made them in the olive oil, but never had them actually ON the pita with everything else. he's giving me ideas tho for my next souvlaki experience
Babish this video was so sweet of you. I am Greek and I have been watching you for about a year or so. Maybe for the next basics with babish you can do gyro (γύρος). And again thank you for this tutorial on how to make souvlaki