Shawarma (Arabic: شاورما), is a Middle Eastern sandwich-like wrap of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or a mixture thereof. The meat is placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day. Chunks of fat within the meat ensure that the shawarma stays juicy. Shawarma is a fast-food staple across the Middle East, Indo-Europe, such as Armenia and North Africa.
Shawarma is eaten with pita bread, tabouli, fattoush, taboon bread, tomato and cucumber. Toppings include tahini, hummus, pickled turnips and amba.
Shawarma is shared by many country variations. In Greece, it is called gyros. In Armenian, it is "Tarna", literally meaning "to turn", made popular by the California Armenian restaurant chain Zankou Chicken, which originally started in Beirut, Lebanon. The place of origin of shawarma is Turkey, and in Turkish it is called döner kebab.
