 | |
| Course | Main course |
|---|---|
| Region or state | Caucasus,Eastern Europe |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Meat, marinade, onions |
Shashlik, orshashlyck (Russian:шашлыкshashlykpronunciationⓘ), is adish ofskewered and grilled cubes ofmeat, similar to or synonymous withshish kebab. It is known traditionally by various other names in theCaucasus,Eastern Europe andCentral Asia,[1][2] and from the 19th century became popular asshashlik across much of theRussian Empire and nowadays in formerSoviet Union republics.[3][4][5]
The wordshashlik orshashlick entered English from theRussianshashlyk, ofTurkic origin.[6] In Turkic languages, the wordshish means 'skewer', andshishlik is literally translated as 'skewerable'. The word was coined fromCrimean Tatar:şış ('spit') by theZaporozhian Cossacks and entered Russian in the 18th century, from there spreading to English and other European languages.[1][2][7] Prior to that, the Russian name for meat cooked on a skewer wasvertelnoye, fromvertel, 'spit'.[2] Shashlik did not reachMoscow until the late 19th century.[8] From then on, its popularity spread rapidly; by the 1910s it was a staple inSt Petersburg restaurants and by the 1920s it was already a pervasive street food all over urban Russia.
Shashlik was originally made oflamb, but nowadays it is also made ofpork,beef,chicken orvenison, depending on local preferences andreligious observances.[3][9] The skewers are either threaded with meat only, or with alternating pieces of meat, fat, and vegetables, such asbell pepper,onion,mushroom andtomato. In Iranian cuisine, meat for shashlik (as opposed to other forms ofshish kebab) is usually in large chunks,[10][11] while elsewhere the form of medium-size meat cubes is maintained making it similar tobrochette. The meat is marinated overnight in a mostly acidic marinade like vinegar, dry wine or sour fruit/vegetable juice with the addition of onions, garlic, herbs and other spices.[12][better source needed]
While it is not unusual to see shashlik today listed on the menu of restaurants, it is more commonly sold in many areas in the form of fast food by street vendors who roast the skewers on amangal over wood,charcoal, or coal. It is also cooked in outdoor environments during social gatherings, similarly tobarbecue in English-speaking countries.
Despite the simplicity of preparing shashlik, the process of frying meat over an open fire can cause inconvenience for residents of apartment buildings.[13]
The Russian term,shashlik, has an interesting etymology: it would seem natural for the word to be borrowed from one of the Caucasian languages. But no, the Georgian for it ismtsvadi, the Azerbaijani,kebab, and the Armenian,horovts. Shashlik is aZaporozhye Cossack coinage from the Crimean Tatarsheesh (spit), brought to Russia in the 18th century, afterField-Marshal Mienich'sCrimean campaign. Prior to the 18th century, the dish was calledverchenoye, from the Russianvertel, spit.
An ancient dish, well known to herders and nomads across a wide swath of the Caucasus and Central Asia,shashlyk became popular in Russia in the mid-19th century after Georgia, Azerbaijan, and part of Armenia were absorbed into the Russian Empire. In those regions, shashlyk originally referred to cubes of grilled lamb cooked on skewers, whereas basturma was the grilled beef version of this dish. But Russians have broadened the term shashlyk to mean any kind of meat–pork, beef, lamb, venison–cut into cubes, marinated for several hours, threaded onto skewers, and cooked over hot coals.
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