Food: Shish Kebab

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FOOD: SHISH KEBAB

Meat roasted over open fires on skewers.

The origin of shish kebab is lost in antiquity, but given the swordlike skewers so common in the Middle East, it probably originated with Turkish horse-men cooking wild game over open fires. In Turkish, shish kebab means "gobbets of meat roasted on a spit or skewer"; the Arabs call it lahm mishwi, grilled lamb.

The threading of vegetablesonions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and peppersonto the skewer, interspersed with meat, appears to be a modern restaurant introduction.

Clifford A. Wright

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