Shawarma Sujuk

What better way to begin a food blog than to write about the very essence of one's culture? If my people had a choice to redecorate the country's flag with food, there would most definitely be a place for shawarma. We have all heard of beef and chicken shawarmas, but what about sujuk shawarma?  While I was in Lebanon for the month, I was only recently introduced to sujuk shawarma by my cousin G.

So what is Sujuk? Sujuk is a type of sausage made from various spices and is native to Turkey, Bulgaria and Armenia. However, the Lebanese probably have the Armenians to thank for introducing it into their diets. It can be a tad spicy and is more reddish-brown in colour than other regular sausages.  Combine the flavour of sujuk with the magnificence of shawarmas and you will have the sceptre of deliciousness.

The sandwich is made simple: Sujuk, pickles, and tomatoes. No sauce. The meat is sliced thin, which makes it easy to chew and is probably the reason why it melts in your mouth. The flavour of tomatoes balances the spice and saltiness of sujuk. The sourness of the pickles gives the shawarma that extra kick of yumminess. It incorporates what beef and chicken shawarmas lack. It has spice and it is dry. You don't have to worry about the mess you are going to make and spilling sauce onto your clothes is 100% avoidable. Needless to say, with the first bite, my taste buds found love.

I had it for cheap at a place called Basterma Mano in Dawra, Lebanon, but I have been told you can probably get it from any Armenian-Lebanese eatery. My mission is to find a place that makes them here in Dubai. It seems we have another reason to thank the Armenians! Շնորհակալություն !