Souvlaki

Souvlaki is cubes of marinated pork skewered and grilled hard over charcoal. It is Greece's everyday grilled meat, sold from kiosks and neighbourhood grills alike, and it is eaten as often standing up as sitting down.

What it really is

Pork shoulder, cut into even cubes, sits in a marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and garlic for at least a few hours before it is threaded onto a skewer and set over hot charcoal. The high, direct heat is the point: the outside chars and crisps while the inside stays juicy, and turning the skewer often is what keeps one side from burning before the other catches up.

Chicken is a common substitute, never a variation on the name. A menu selling chicken souvlaki is selling a different, equally traditional skewer, not a lesser version of the pork one.

How it is served

• Straight off the skewer, or slid into warm pita with tomato, onion and tzatziki.
• With chips and a wedge of lemon on the side, the standard taverna plate.
• Several skewers to a portion when served as a main rather than a wrap.

How to write it on the menu

• Say plainly whether it is pork or chicken; the marinade is the same, the meat is not.
• Flag the gluten in the pita if it is served wrapped rather than on the skewer alone.
• Note that it is grilled to order over live heat; a version finished on a flat grill or under a broiler is a different texture and worth distinguishing.