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Here are today’s five thing to know about Gyros:

  1. A gyro  is a dish of meat roasted on a vertical spit. It is usually served as a sandwich, also called a gyros, with tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce, wrapped in pita bread.
  2. To make gyros, pieces of meat are placed on a tall vertical spit, which turns in front of a source of heat, usually an electric broiler.
  3.  If the meat is not fatty enough, strips of fat are added so that the roasting meat remains always moist and crisp.
  4. The rate of roasting can be adjusted by varying the strength of the heat and the distance between the heat and the meat, allowing the cook to adjust to varying rates of consumption.
  5. The outside of the meat is sliced vertically in thin, crisp shavings when done. It is generally served in an oiled, lightly grilled piece of pita, rolled up with various salads and sauces.

Today’s Food History

  • 1819 J.J. Wood patented a plow with interchangeable parts.
  • 1826 Alfred Ely Beach was born. American inventor and publisher of Scientific American magazine.
  • 1906 Karl August Folkers was born. He was the first to isolate vitamin B12.
  • 1914 Martha, the last surviving Passenger Pigeon died on September 1, 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo, the species having been commercially hunted to extinction.
  • 1940 Lillian D. Wald died. She was a scientist and nurse, and among her activities, she helped initiate the enactment of pure food laws in the U.S.
  • 1951 The Premier, the first supermarket in Britain, opened it’s doors.