Today is National Gyro Day, celebrating the Greek street-food favorite made with meat roasted on a vertical spit.
The cooking style grew from the Turkish döner kebab and became popular in Greece during the 20th century. Gyros later followed Greek immigrants to the United States, where Chicago’s Greek community helped the dish catch on during the 1960s. In the 1970s, Chicago companies began mass-producing seasoned beef-and-lamb gyro cones, making the dish easier for restaurants nationwide to serve. In Greece, pork and chicken remain common, while the American version is beef and lamb, tucked into pita with tomato, onion and tzatziki.
To celebrate gyros without a vertical spit, Tastes Better From Scratch seasons ground lamb and beef with onion, garlic, oregano, cumin and Aleppo pepper, bakes the mixture in a loaf pan, then slices and browns it until crisp before piling it into warm pita with tomato, onion, lettuce and tzatziki.