A relishing glimpse of an unparalleled journey of Kebabs into the unexplored cuisines of the world
With the change in time, kebabs have managed to find a very significant place in modern day cuisines. Originally, the modern kebab, as we recognize it, sees its roots in Turkey. If we go by the facts, the first use of the word comes from there. It was originated from the word- Shish kebabs! In Turkish, ‘sis’ means sword and ‘keba’ refers to meat, more specifically lamb or mutton. It is said that during the Ottoman Empire, the soldiers would put small pieces of meat on the swords over a large fire. This is why these dishes were called shish (sword) kebabs
All thanks to the vastness of Ottoman Empire, the kebabs happened to travel all around the world. It wasn’t that people didn’t have their own indigenous varieties of kebabs. It is believed that kebab came to India as a modest preparation of lightly seasoned and cooked meat in the 14th century along with the Mughals, but in the new home of spices, the kebab could not retain its simplicity for too long and soon evolved, courtesy the culinary inventiveness of royal cooks.
Earlier, we had our own varieties of indigenous kebabs called ‘Maas ka Soola’ which was made from game meat like deer or wild boar. But the various kebabs that we see now, evolved with invasions and under the Mughal rule.
Till 19th century, all kebabs were cooked on horizontal skewers, not vertical ones. It was only in the 19th century when Turkey gave birth to the döner kebab. Traditionally, these kebabs are always served with bread like lavash or yufka. In the 20th century, the dish was modernized and was served in sandwich form. Later, it travelled over to the western world and became a smash hit. In fact, it with time it became so popular, that the version of döner kebab we relish today actually is largely a German add-on.
According to chefs, the marination technique of kebab varies from place to place but mainly revolves around the concoction of lemon juice, oil, yoghurt, onion juice, cinnamon, wild marjoram, tomato juice, and ground spices.
Later the simple kebab was redefined in form of a franchise when The Great Kebab Factory came into existence by Radisson Hotels in New Delhi in the year 1998.
Though, the origin of kebab was probably just a hunk of freshly killed animal meat, smoked or cooked over a wood fire with little salt, and maybe with some chilli powder added to it. The subtle addition of flavours, textures, and tastes was an art form that evolved over a period of time and is still under the scans of innovations and experimentations.
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