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What on earth is going on…
If you’ve been waiting a long time, thank you for your patience
If you have no idea what is going on, you’ll probably live longer.
If you’re already bored, it’s about to get interesting.
In the next few weeks and months, you will be reading things on here that you will not find anywhere else on the internet, nor in a book, nor magazine, nor Youtube channel. (How many publications can honestly say that?)
Let’s explain a few things. Very quickly.
Why have you sent me this email?
You asked me to. In 4.5 months, we’ve become a community of over 45,000 souvlaki lovers on Instagram, by celebrating our ancient Greek tradition of cooking skewered meat over fire. It now lives on as souvlaki to Greek speakers, as souvla in Cyprus, and as kebab to others, to name a few examples. Many will know gyros too.
Here, you’ll learn the difference, accurately.
What is Kebabination?
This is the world’s first and only attempt to map out the best souvlatzidika (sort of globally). It will take time.
Perhaps more importantly, it’ll be a place where you find everything there is to know about our food and its heritage under one roof. It’ll be the first place on the internet where you’ll be able to read a lot of this information in the English language and, in some cases, in any language.
It’s probably the only food blog, or publication, or whatever you want to call it, that has ever dedicated itself to taking souvlakia seriously. And that is sort of hilarious.
What do I get out of this? What are you sending me?
For many, it will be a vehicle for staying close to our past and our heritage, while making sure that our traditions are preserved and held standing.
Likewise, souvlatzidika will need some marketing to help them survive and grow. I’ll strive to be honest as is possible without working against our larger aim, which is to support these businesses.
That said, expect these emails to be somewhat more balanced and informative than the Instagram reels and TikToks.
So, whenever I get round to it, I’ll be sending you:
reviews and recommendations
behind the scenes stories, secrets and epic failures
souvlaki history lessons
controversial opinions and political food-related chat (Varoufakis coming soon)
the odd recipe or lesson, ideally in collaboration with people who know more than me (suggestions welcome, just reply to this email!)
Why are you doing this?
Accurately documenting and preserving Greek and Cypriot gastronomic traditions is the main goal (with a focus on meat). This will be done in the English language so that it may be retained by the largest number of people possible.
The discussion around these topics on the internet in the English language is poor. Badly researched articles rank highly on Google, and TikTok chefs have normalised the idea that gyros can be cooked in a frying pan (or oven). That stops now.
The Villains.
If you speak to anyone in Greece about souvlatzidika, aka souvlaki joints (elsewhere known as kebab houses), they are likely to say one of two things:
Either, “I remember when souvlakia used to be €1,80! Now you’d be lucky to find one for €3”!*
Or “τα σουβλατζίδικα έχουν ψιλο-εξαφανιστεί” i.e. souvlatzidika have sort of disappeared…
If this is the case in Greece, what hope do the rest of us have?
In London, the situation is worse. Greek food is often criminally misrepresented. The reality of the restaurant business is that surviving means compromising. (I’m predicting that somebody, very soon, is going to sell gyros in a bao bun, if it hasn’t happened already). Larger-scale chains back by private equity tend to profit out of misrepresenting Greek food while honest, independent businesses are left grappling with rising overheads.
Souvltzidika in central London, in particular, do not survive – the only two near my old office in central London closed in the past year, one quickly opening and closing within the space of two years.
Souvlatzidika and kebab houses aren’t necessary extinct, but they also aren’t known for getting the success and attention they deserve. I’d rather see them thrive.
The Souvlatzi Superheroes
In many cases, grandchildren are dedicating their lives to carrying forward their grandparents' businesses, recipes, and legacy themselves – like the 2 Kostides in Athens (Kostas, Plateia Agias Eirinis & O Kostas, Syntagma). Many incredible chefs, foodies and bloggers are working hard to preserve our grandparents’ traditions. But our favourite street food, which I think symbolises and represents so much more than it gets credit for, gets overlooked.
Chains will never be as proud and personal, or as rooted in their community as our family-run favourites. This is also a fight against commercialism and scale, which I think quite literally tastes like shit (will explain why and how soon).
To preserve traditions means to document them and to educate. Better than letting others distort our heritage to make a quick buck.
What’s next?
Next time, we’ll explain a little bit about the name Kebabination and make sense of the whole souvlaki and kebab distinction.
This is for proud Greeks and Cypriots who love a good souvlaki as much as I do. It’s for everyone who feels a disconnect between the life they are living and that of their grandparents. And it will be for everyone who loves a good kebab.
Make no mistake, this is a revolution.
And it’s just begun.
With love and good company,
Alex @ Kebabination
Never cook over black charcoal.
Any questions? Want to get involved?
You can reply to this email.
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