Suddenly there is a spike in the ordering of schwarmas based on The Avengers movie. How crazy is that? At the end of the film Ironman says, "Have you ever tried shawarma?...I don't know what it is, but I want to try it." Apparently he's not the only one. I guess many people are going to try it or else it's just reminding the rest of us, "Hey, it's been ages since I've had a schwarma. Thanks for reminding me!"
Today Bee reporter Blair Robertson writes about it in his article "Middle East dish hot new thing after it's served up in 'Avengers'". Yesterday he had Facebooked asking for input on good schwarmas around town. My response to him was - nowhere!
You see, I grew up with schwarmas because of living in Saudi Arabia. I was there from first through ninth grades and back for vacations until my dad retired in 1987, the same time I graduated college. (Side note: My parents actually missed my college graduation because they were busy driving out of the MidEast. Hmmm. Priorities?)
Schwarmas were almost always what we had for lunch or dinner when we went in to the neighboring Arab city of Al Khobar. Back in the day (1970s), there would be a schwarma stand every few blocks just like you would see a hot dog stand in New York. The rotisserie of meat is spinning and fresh Arab (pita) bread is ready to be filled. The bread was smaller than what is sold here and so most adults would order two or three. The filling? Lamb, tahini, chopped tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers, and mint. For me a schwarma has to have some sprigs of fresh mint.
