A search for exceptional Syrian-style shawarma leads to the San Fernando Valley
LA Times“Can I have my shawarma wrap made with one side of a pita?” I ask Adham Kamal, the owner of Sincerely Syria in Sherman Oaks. Owner Eyad Kawak cooks chicken kebab, beef kebab, and beef kafta at Mama’s Shawarma on Thursday, July 20, 2023 in Northridge, CA. “And the word is likely to be at the root of shawarma, which, in Arab countries, describes what the Turks call doner kebab: a very large, fat ‘kebab,’ once made only with pieces of lamb, but now also made with chicken.” Helou calls the renamed, yogurt-slathered adaptation by the Greeks — the gyro — the country’s “most successful food marketing coup ever.” In Los Angeles, decent enough gyros and doner kebabs can be found in scattered pockets. Owner Eyad Kawak makes a beef shawarma wrap at Mama’s Shawarma. Mama’s Shawarma Mother-and-son team Krstein Kantarji and Eyad Kawak came to Southern California to live near family after escaping the ongoing Syrian civil war, fleeing first to Lebanon.
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