Chicken Shawarama

"What's my favorite part of eating?"... you might ask. Simple, finding something good to drink with it. Whether it is Tequila with Mexican, Sake with Japanese, or wine with... well anything, I like to pair food and drink. Truthfully, I like food to give me an excuse to drink. So what to pair with Chicken Shawarama? After a quick read up on Robee's I find that the dish I ate last week was Iraqi. Don't have a problem with the fact that we have fought two wars in the past twenty years, but I do have one major dilemma. From what I understand Iraq is a "dry" country. Dry in the sense that they don't buy, serve or drink alcohol. That does put a damper on my night because I don't plan on serving this Shawarama with tea. If there was only a modern technology that would allow me to find what other diners would drink with Shawarama, wait... after a quick Google search I find that some people suggest Shawarama with Syrah, I told you, wine goes with everything!

Tonight I decided to invite a few people over to try the dish; uncle Doug (he is becoming a favorite), my mom, my dad and of course, my wife. (I know it is lame that my close family are the only people that are willing to eat my food, but I am seriously not a very good cook).

I found a receipt online that looked, and followed it pretty well. It was very similar to the Shawarama that we had at Robee's but it traded the yogurt spread for a "hummus" spread. (It was not a bean hummus but made from tahini). The hummus did dry the dish out a little too much, after the fourth bite I wished that I had some tart yogurt and dill to clean the pallet.

I thought the chicken was great. I marinaded it in a yogurt sauce for eight hours and used spices I have never used before, for that matter, spices I have never heard of before: cardamom and sumac. (I know that most people know these spices but they are a first for me!). I really enjoyed the hot chicken wrapped in Lavash with a cold cucumber, tomato and onion salad. If I had to do over I would definitely include the yogurt and dill sauce, but that's how you learn. Everyone at the meal was polite enough to say they liked it, but it was lacking something, next time I'll do better. I'll try again, come back... NEXT ROUND'S ON ME!