The land of the gyro, no matter how you pronounce it
By Owen Morris in News
Thursday, Jul. 16 2009 @ 12:30PM
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Where does gyro meat come from? If you said Greece, try again. The world's largest manufacturer of gyro cones -- the ubiquitous cylinders of pressed meat in every Greek restaurant -- is in Chicago. In fact, all the gyro producers are in Chicago.
The New York Times had an article yesterday on the first gyro kings and how they made the food a dietary staple in the late '70s:
"We didn't have a distribution deal in the early days," said [Gyro's Inc. owner] Mr. Parthenis.... "So the first gyros ever shipped out of Chicago we put on a Greyhound bus, headed to Atlanta. Frozen in a double corrugated box, with the luggage."The point of the article is that while the economy is hurting, gyros are experiencing a resurgence. The perfect meal for people who suddenly don't have a lot of money but still crave somewhat exotic food, they're like the 21st century hot dog.
And like hot dogs, it's probably best to not know how gyros are made -- but the story goes into detail anyway.
There's even a video of the process. It's not all lamb's meat; there's beef in the gyros too. As for how gyros get their consistency:
According to the New York Times it's YEE-ro. But I've always heard it pronounced GEAR-ro. Other pronunciations include YUR-o and GUY-ro. As one commenter noted, the Times doesn't even follow its own advice, pronouncing it JI-ro in the video.
However you say it, Kansas City could always use more good gyro places.
(Image via Flickr: Moriza)
The meat is run through a four-ton grinder, where bread crumbs, water, oregano and other seasonings are added. A clumpy paste emerges and is squeezed into a machine that checks for metal and bone. ("You can never be too careful," Mr. Tomaras said.) Hydraulic pressure -- 60 pounds per square inch -- is used to fuse the meat into cylinders, which are stacked on trays and then rolled into a flash freezer, where the temperature is 20 degrees below zero.The biggest controversy isn't about what happens in a gyro factory, but about how the word is pronounced.
According to the New York Times it's YEE-ro. But I've always heard it pronounced GEAR-ro. Other pronunciations include YUR-o and GUY-ro. As one commenter noted, the Times doesn't even follow its own advice, pronouncing it JI-ro in the video.
However you say it, Kansas City could always use more good gyro places.
(Image via Flickr: Moriza)
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