Souvlaki (Greek: Σουβλάκι, [suˈvlaci]) plural souvlakia is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It may be served on the skewer for eating out of hand, in a pita sandwich with garnishes and sauces, or on a dinner plate, often with fried potatoes. The meat is usually pork in Greece and Cyprus. In other countries and for tourists, souvlaki may be made with other meats such as lamb, beef, chicken and sometimes fish (especially swordfish).
The word souvlaki is a diminutive of the Greek σούβλα souvla 'skewer', itself borrowed from Latin subula.
Souvlaki is attested in Greece since antiquity and it was known with the name ὀβελίσκος (obeliskos), dim. of ὀβελός (obelos), "spit", mentioned amongst others in the works of Aristophanes,Xenophon,Aristotle, etc. A meat and bread recipe which resembles the way pita souvlaki is served today, with pita bread was also attested by Athenaeus in Deipnosophistae and called the plate kandaulos. The skewered meat, kebab-like recipe, existed as a favourite in ancient Greece at Archaic times, as the earliest references are attested in Homer. However, excavations held in Akrotiri on the Greek island of Santorini by professor Christos G. Doumas, unearthed stone sets of barbecue for skewers (Greek: κρατευταί - krateutai) used before the 17th century BCE. In each pair of the supports, the receptions for the spits are found in absolute equivalence, while the line of small openings in the base formed a mechanism to supply the coals with oxygen so that they remained alight during its use.
(instrumental)
Nuclear Family:
Hello. I think you have the
wrong number. Helen, get
me a beer. Which Roy are
you speaking of? Oh _that_
Roy, Well, I think he's away in his
room. Well he's playing on
those machines, on those.
.. on those infernal
machines, I don't know
exactly what he does all
day long. Helen, get in
here! You gotta look at
this. Oh, just a minute,
someone's claling me.
What is it? It's terrible! Oh
my goodness. Oh dear
goodness. My God, they've
done it again.