Souvlaki: The ultimate guide of the king of Greek street food

It is not a secret that Greek food constantly gains dedicated fans worldwide. Greek cuisine is diverse and influenced by many different cultures throughout history. Although every region has its unique signature dishes, one is loved by every Greek around the globe: Souvlaki, the king of Greek street food!

First of all, let's talk about the name. You have probably heard the locals calling the dish in different ways, like souvlaki, gyros and kalamaki. Usually, it depends on the exact region you are in. For example, in Athens and Southern Greece, souvlaki describes all the different types of the dish. By "kalamaki" (meaning small reed, skewer), they refer to the meat skewer. Gyros is the meat on the vertical rotisserie.

On the other hand, in the city of Thessaloniki and Northern Greece in general, souvlaki is the meat skewer. You will never hear anyone in the region using the word "kalamaki". There is a long dispute between the different areas about who uses the correct names! But at the end of the day, does it matter? Whatever you call them, the fact is that they are plain delicious!

Now that we have the name issue straight let's dig deeper into the different dish versions. As we mentioned above, the two main ones are skewers and gyros. You can order the skewers by the item (served with white bread), in a pitta wrap (tylikto) or by the portion (usually contains 2-4 skewers). Similarly, you can order gyros in a pitta wrap or by the portion ("merida" in Greek). Generally, the portion usually consists of meat of your choice, pitta bread, fries, tzatziki, tomatoes and onions. Often you will find some restaurants serving the so-called "skepasti". Skepasti is similar to a club sandwich (with pittas instead of bread), with gyros, yellow cheese, tzatziki and vegetables. It is served with fries.

A portion (merida) of pork skewers with tzatziki sauce and fries. Image by rawf8 @ shutterstock

We specified the different versions of souvlaki; now it is time to deconstruct it!

The meat

The two most common types of meat used to prepare the gyros and the skewers are pork and chicken. A common variation of the chicken skewer is the kotobacon, i.e. chicken bites wrapped with bacon on a skewer. You could also find other meat in some restaurants, like lamb or rarely beef. Also, different but common types of meat are the greek sausage (pork with herbs and spices), the bifteki (minced beef or mixed meat patty) and the kebab (minced lamb with spices).

If you are a vegan or vegetarian, don't get discouraged! There are various choices for you who want to taste the food that is so connected to Greek culture! Most restaurants have multiple options to replace the meat, such as halloumi cheese, vegetable skewers (e.g. mushroom) and falafel. Alternatively, you can order a wrap only with the extras, which we will discuss further in this article.

Halloumi cheese skewers, a vegetarian alternative. Image by istetiana @ shutterstock

The bread

The Greek "pitta" is the most common type of bread, favoured by most Greeks. Pitta is a round flatbread and one of the main ingredients for preparing the wrap (tylikto). Pitta is often served instead of bread if you order a portion. Usually, you will find two sizes in pittas, regular and large. Another common practice among locals is to ask for a "dipitto" (or "dikano"), a single wrap with two pittas. In some restaurants, you can also find whole-grain pittas.

Other pittas, often used to prepare the wrap, are the Cypriot and the Arabic. The Cypriot pitta is a flatbread that opens in the middle like an envelope to put the stuffing in. The Arabic one is a thin wrap similar to the tortilla.

In Northern Greece, in addition to the pittas, they use white bread, and you can choose between pitta wraps and sandwiches. They also use the souvlouri (or "koulouri"), a bread similar to the traditional "koulouri of Thessaloniki", a bagel type of bread with sesame.

The sauce

The sauce is so important in the preparation of souvlaki. Without it, the food would feel very dry. The "tzatziki" is the default sauce used in the wraps or as an extra in the portions. Tzatziki is a yoghourt-based sauce with garlic and cucumber. Traditionally, the wraps were made with yoghurt instead of tzatziki. In some places, i.e. Crete, it is still served the traditional way. Second in popularity are two feta cheese-based spreads: "tyrosalata" and "tyrokafteri" (or else "kopanisti"), which is the spicy version of tyrosalata with hot pepper. Another sauce you can add instead of tzatziki is a mayo-based sauce that goes well with chicken. Finally, you can ask for ketchup and mustard to accompany your wrap if you are a vegan.

In Northern and Central Greece, you will often find a variety of other sauces to choose from. For example, the Russian salad (white spread with potatoes, carrots and peas), the Budapest salad (white spread with ham), the coleslaw salad ("kypourou"), and melitzanosalata (an aubergine-based spread with garlic), to name a few. Depending on the region, you may find other sauces as well. For example, they often use tomato sauce (or red sauce) in Corfu. In addition, it is not unusual for some restaurants to make their own signature sauce.

Pitta wraps, or tylikta with pork gyros. Image by rawf8 @ shutterstock

The extras

The final touch to make your souvlaki perfect is the extra vegetables. Traditionally the ones used to prepare the pitta wraps are tomatoes and onions. Since many years ago, fries have been added as an extra. Several restaurants add roman lettuce to the chicken wraps and rarely to the pork ones. Occasionally you will find some restaurants that add some parsley too. As we mentioned above, if you are vegan or vegetarian, you can always order a wrap with just the extras.

Skepasti, a sandwich with pittas and gyros. Image by siamionau pavel @ shutterstock

Souvlaki is the king of street food, and rightly so. It is cheap -a wrap usually costs around 2 to 3 euros- and it is plain delicious! You can find it anywhere, anytime, and you can order it according to your taste and dietary needs. For all of us in Simplybook, "Kali sas orexi"!

Want to learn the dos and don'ts of eating souvlaki? Read Alexia's fun guide here.

Next: How to order your souvlaki (with infographic)

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Featured image by rawf8 @ shutterstock