What is Lamb Gyro Meat?
Lamb gyro meat is minced and seasoned with onion, garlic, cumin and oregano and cooked on a rotisserie. It has a tender, juicy texture and a rich, umami flavor. As required the cooked meat is shaved off of the outside and served on a pita with toppings such as onion, tomato, and tzatziki sauce.
Ingredients
...Ground cooked lamb is made by taking lamb meat and grinding it into a consistency similar to ground beef. Because the shoulder meat is most lean it is the preferred cut for ground lamb, leg meat is also used. The meat has an easy to form texture and is used for kebabs, fillings, burgers and more. When ground lamb is cooked it has a gamey, strong flavor. The texture is tender and lightly browned on the outside, with a hint of fat that lends additional flavor.
...The onion is a bulb vegetable, meaning its bulb and not its leaves are eaten. Onions come in many varieties, including white, yellow and red. Shallots are small and mild onions. Vidalias are sweet, while red onions are strong and sharp. The onion is usually round and has a thin dry skin around its juicy layers. This skin depends in the color of the onion, as does the flesh. The flesh, or body of the onion is made of multiple round layers, that get smaller towards the center. The flavor of onions are sharp and sweet when raw, with an astringent taste. When cooked, these flavors mellow and the sweetness emerges. Onion are a very common flavoring and ingredient for many savory dishes.
...Garlic is used in cuisines around the world and is extremely popular for its depth of flavor. The garlic bulb forms underneath the soil and is harvested once it reaches maturity. The bulb typically has thin, dry, white and flaky skin, surrounding the individual cloves. Often there are 10-12 cloves to a bulb/head of garlic. The cloves are cream colored with a strong smell and flavor that is spicy and sharp. Garlic takes on a nutty flavor in addition, when cooked. It is used in countless dishes, sauces, breads and more.
...The peppercorn plant grows in tropical climate and produces tiny black fruit. The fruit is dried and become hard. At this point it is ground into a textured powder comprised of black and grey dots. It has a flavor that is spicy, pungent and sharp. Pepper is an extremely popular spice, especially in Western cuisines and lends a gentle heat to dishes. There are different varieties of black pepper and the flavor changes subtly because of this.
...Cumin is a spice used in many cuisines around the world. The seed from which cumin is ground is a thin seed with a long body and tapered ends. Cumin is just a few millimeters in length and has a light brown or tan tone, which can look a bit grey. Ground cumin is light brown and has a flavor that is spicy, earthy and a little nutty. When pan heated, the flavor of cumin is both tempered and enhanced.
...Oregano is an herb in the mint family and grows on thin and delicate stalks that produce tiny oblong leaves with tapered ends. These leaves are less than half an inch in length. Oregano has a mildly fuzzy texture and is thin and delicate. The green herb has a sharp and peppery flavor that is pungent, slightly bitter, green and a bit minty. When eaten, raw oregano creates a stringent feeling in the mouth. This herb is used in many cuisines and can be found frequently in Italian dishes, such as tomato sauce.