Sales of the most popular street food have increased by 100-200% over the past year
Greek gyros is served in a tortilla and drizzled with tzatziki yoghurt sauce.
People are divided into two categories: some contemptuously call it “shavukha” and are afraid to even approach the respective kiosks, while others talk with inspiration about the difference between recipes from Istanbul or Thessaloniki. Shawarma — she is shawarma, she is also shuarma or shavarma, she is also gyros, she is also doner kebab, she is meat sliced in pita bread — the alpha and omega of modern street food of all (well, almost) peoples.
When asked how much shawarma costs, most Muscovites over 25–30 years old will immediately answer: “Well, a hundred rubles.” Indeed, for a long time, such a price was kept in all tents where shawarma was side by side with grilled chicken: 100 rubles — classic, 120 — in cheese pita bread. However, the rise in price is also noticeable here: the average check for shawarma is now 171 rubles. However, it remains one of the most affordable fast food options.
Armenian Karski kebab is wrapped in traditional lavash or pita.
A small glazed point is built into the most ordinary store or even a residential building, usually near a metro or railway station (for better traffic). It often works around the clock, but if with a break for the night, then with a small one, that is, it opens first and closes last. Inside, the main attribute of this type of fast food is a large skewer, on which meat is fried and then heated. And general cooking accessories: a metal cutting table, a closed refrigerator for supplies and a glass one for drinks.
Team — from one to three people. Firstly, the chef himself (witty people say “shaurmeister”, “shaurmier”; but let's face it — there are no such words yet). Secondly, the cashier (more often the cashier) is more hygienic, one person grabs the money with his hands, and the other is in contact with the food, SanPiNs approve. If the dot is large, there may be apprentices.
Morning, people run to work — there is a queue at the point. And here is the main drawback of this type of street food: if you do not have an extra 15 minutes, there is nothing to start. Because first you need to order food (by elbowing your way through the ring of those who have already ordered and are waiting for “prey”), then actually wait. Along the way, having experienced a couple of «false starts»: oh, cheers! oh, sorry, this is not for me yet …
The type of «shaurmier» is therefore quite specific: it is, as a rule, a southern or eastern person (like his immediate «spiritual father» barbecue), moderately imposing (client he ordered, which means he won’t run away) and ironic (one must fend off the constant attacks “would be faster!”). You really can’t go faster: shawarma is the most democratic of the dishes prepared according to the restaurant principle, that is, on the spot.
“Dear, don’t take it with beef today, it’s better to take it with chicken!” — if at the point with shawarma they tell you something like that, be sure to listen. It looks like the chef has taken a liking to you and wants you to enjoy it, not the consequences.
“In general, this is the healthiest fast food, much better than any McDonald’s,” says Firuz, a chef at one of the points in the north-west of Moscow. — No frying in oil, fresh vegetables — proper nutrition! My best clients are the ones that come out of this fitness door. Best of all, when the skewer is full, just started to cut. So the meat was just delivered, the freshest. In the end, it might get a little worse. But if there are a lot of customers, it doesn't matter, the meat leaves quickly.
Okay, but what to do with that chicken or beef that is “outdated”, winded up, expired over the weekend? The interlocutor of “MK” firmly answers: we give it to the dogs (you can’t just throw it away, the rats will breed). Firuz has a regular client — a security guard of the nearest closed institute, who has guard dogs “in submission”. He takes the «surplus» for a symbolic price: 50 rubles per package.
“Meat from a wholesale store, mayonnaise-ketchups too, and I take the most ordinary vegetables, right in a nearby supermarket, it’s cheaper,” says Firuz. He tells, but, frankly, he does not say a little: those who live near the point can see with their own eyes how late in the evening, before the store closes, lettuce and tomatoes are bought up for shawarma, the condition of which no longer allows them to be sold just like that. Just a loader comes with a box of vegetables, ships, receives money and leaves. However, the crumpled sides of tomatoes, of course, are not reflected in the taste, and a box is brought every evening.
— If you want to check the meat — smell it, you will immediately understand everything! Firuz tells clients. However, the thesis is indisputable: by the smell you can immediately distinguish what is being offered to you. Eternal suspicions about dog meat or cat meat are fairy tales, of course: why would you do this if it is cheaper to buy meat in the mentioned wholesale store, as well as in grocery markets, in every sense, than to use something suspicious. Here is stale meat — another thing, this happens; for this, you need to smell what it smells like from the point. The nose will not deceive.
Berlin doner kebab is served in special bread with lots of vegetables.
Opening a shawarma point is like a food stall in the 90s: accessible to many, but there are nuances. The price of the issue is from 50 thousand rubles a month, at the metro station it’s good if it’s over 100. However, you’ll have to look: many landlords write “except shawarma” in their ads.
— We don’t let shawarma in for two reasons, — said the owner of the trading premises in the Shchukino area. — First: residents complain about the smell, including at night; we are tired of dealing with them. Second: the point is not empty, people come to it all night. Many people don't like it either.
Even before the opening of the point, it is necessary (as in the case of the stall of the old days) to establish relations with all the «best people in the area.» The police, says the owner of the point, are friendly and «sit on a subscription», including a culinary one. In response to material courtesies, he does not torment him with checks. As for the «night owners» of the area — you also have to be friends with them in every sense.
— Are these «subscriptions» more or less rent? Firuz asks, laughing. — It turns out twice as much. But it all depends on the revenue.
From the «lawlessness» (for example, some stray gopniks who decided to profit or just play a trick), the owner and the cooks are saved not only by the police, but also by regular customers. Loaders from stores, public utilities from the nearest Zhilischnik — the owner of the point has the phone numbers of several foremen in his contact list. If something happens, they will rush in five minutes in an amount of “ten and more”. And because eating is delicious! — you always want, and friendly shawarma with big discounts is a weighty argument.
Istanbul shawarma is completed with a few slices of French fries and pomegranate seeds.
If you ask a question about where shawarma comes from, not everyone will be ready to answer right away.
In Greece, this dish is called gyros — it is served in a dense flatbread rolled into a cone, inside of which sliced chicken or beef, french fries, cucumbers, tomatoes are placed and poured over all this with plenty of yoghurt-based tzatziki sauce with garlic, herbs and cucumbers. By the way, sometimes gyros is served in a glass so that the sauce does not leak from the bottom, and in this case it is still recommended to eat it with a fork. There is a kind of gyros — gokos, which involves the addition of fried halloumi cheese.
Turkish shawarma, called “tavuk dener”, the pride of Istanbul, the most common street food, is usually remembered for pomegranate seeds, which are added inside along with sauce and vegetables. Even Istanbul shawarma is often supplemented with a few slices of french fries, but then everything is quite predictable — they just wrap it in pita bread.
As for central Europe, Germany is the leader here, more precisely Berlin: doner kebab has long turned into a traditional street food here along with currywurst sausages. And in Armenia, it is called Karski shish kebab and is usually served in traditional Armenian lavash.
Ketchup and mayonnaise in mauveton shawarma: sophisticated gourmets advise you to run far away when you see bottles with factory sauces. Delicious shawarma is obtained if author's sauces are used: white — on a yoghurt basis, with garlic and herbs; red — tomato. However, Muscovites, as shown by many years of experience, prefer spicier, so in most shawarma tents you can see a bottle of hot sauce. Most often they use Asian sriracha, sometimes Tabasco. In some kiosks, adjika is added for spice. Well, then it all depends on the chef's imagination: somewhere they decide to flavor the shawarma, for example, with garlic sauce with truffle or Israeli tahini sauce.
Fried eggplants are a good addition — firstly, they correspond to the principles of oriental cuisine, and secondly, they go well with both chicken and beef.
Korean-style carrots and jalapeno peppers are considered typical Moscow additions.
According to nutritionists, shawarma is the most useful fast food. It contains a lot of fresh vegetables that help improve the digestion of meat: cabbage, tomato, cucumber. Chicken, which is usually added to shawarma, is considered much healthier for those who watch their diet. It has a large amount of protein and not such a high calorie content. The taste of shawarma is mostly not very salty, you will not want to eat something else after it.
In the finished dish, all the fat from the chicken flows down, if you do not want to consume extra calories, you can simply throw out this tip. The sauce is traditionally made on the basis of yogurt with the addition of various spices. Unsweetened yogurt is a probiotic that has a positive effect on the human body. In this case, you will get everything you need for your body: protein, carbohydrates, fiber.
Only pita bread is not useful in shawarma, as it is baked from premium flour. It is completely devoid of fiber and vitamins, but it is full of calories. There are 120 kcal in one sheet of thin pita bread, these are unnecessary, useless calories that have no nutritional value. You can try shawarma on a plate, excluding pita bread, then the dish will be completely healthy, but this will work only at home.
The cost of shawarma is much less than the finished dish in the shawarma. Experts say that the average mark-up is 100-200%, it includes salaries for shawarma chefs, rent for an establishment, payment for electricity, and so on. If we do not take into account all these costs, we can easily calculate the cost of the dish. For example, a kilogram of chicken breast costs an average of 300-350 rubles, only 100 grams go to shawarma, it turns out that the cost of meat is only 30 rubles. For a kilogram of cabbage, we give 21 rubles, about 90 grams are added to the dish, in shawarma it turns out for 5 rubles. With the help of simple calculations, knowing all the components of the dish, we count further: four circles of cucumber — only 2 rubles, three slices of tomato cost 3 rubles, a small amount of onion — 1 ruble, one sheet of pita bread — 6 rubles. It turns out that the cost of shawarma is only 47 rubles, in shawarma shops we buy them three or even four times more expensive.
“We have been working for only five months, so demand is only increasing,” the owner (he is also a cook) of a point that recently opened in the east of the capital told MK. — People come, try, tell their friends, there are only more people. I think the demand for shawarma will never decrease, as it is fast, tasty and affordable.
At the initial stage, the recipes are standard, the MK interlocutor explained. It’s time to think about changes in recipes a little later — when regular customers appear who want something new. In the meantime, people just eat and praise, which means that, according to the chef, it is not necessary to change anything.
“Correctly selected products are the most important thing, they must be fresh and of high quality,” confirms the owner of the outlet. — Well, the cook who connects them: sometimes you come to a new point, you buy several times from different shawarma — the products are the same, but the taste is completely different. It must be done with soul.
One of the variations of this dish, conquering Moscow right now, is Greek gyros. It is traditionally served in a pita — a cut flatbread. “There is another sauce, from Greek cuisine, we personally add potatoes and do not put cabbage,” says the chef. — These are all the differences that can be named; people like gyros more than shawarma.”
Of course, it's difficult to open up: the choice of equipment, rental costs, and for the ambitious and smart, branding. Here, by the way, you can miscalculate: remember the scandalous opening of the «Stalinist» shawarma in Koptev, which, as it was opened, had to be quickly closed? But if everything works out — why not, then it's all about the client base. And a meticulous approach. And then — maybe in a year or two — in Moscow they will formulate how to call the point itself and its chef in correct terms?