Greek Restaurant in Minocqua
There are few restaurants in Minocqua, which serv ethnic, traditional food. Read below about gyro and avgolemono, greek specialties served at Island Cafe. Remember, you are always welcome to try them at Island Cafe - The Best Restaurant in Minocqua
Avgolemono
Avgolemono is a family of eastern Mediterranean sauces and soups made with egg yolks and lemon mixed with broth, heated until they thicken. Avgolemono is the Greek name, meaning egg-lemon; in Arabic, it is called tarbiya, and in Turkish terbiye. It is the typical sauce used on warm dolma and many vegetables, especially artichoke. It is part of some specific stew-like dishes such as the Greek pork with celery and the Turkish yuvarlak, added just before serving to thicken and acidulate the cooking juices. As a soup, it usually starts with a chicken broth, though meat, fish, or vegetable broths are also used. Typically, rice or soup pasta such as orzo are cooked in the broth before a mixture of egg yolks and lemon is added. Its consistency varies from near-stew to near-broth. The soup may be made with whole eggs, in which case the whites are often beaten first until stiff, the yolks and then the lemon juice afterwards being beaten in gradually. The chicken stock with rice is then gradually mixed in. Starch is sometimes added as an additional thickener.
Gyro
Gyros or gyro (Greek γύρος, "turning") is a kind of meat roasted on a vertical rotisserie, or by extension the pita bread it is usually found in. In addition to the meat, there are also various salads and sauces inside the pita. The most common fillings are tomato, french fries, onions and tzatziki sauce. The Arabic shawarma, the Turkish döner and Mexican tacos al pastor are somewhat similar (though tortillas, used to wrap Mexican tacos, is a bread product of very different texture than the Greek pita). In some parts of Greece, gyros was formerly called ντονέρ [don'er], from its Turkish name döner kebab (literally "turning roast"); γύρος is a calque on that name.
Greece & Cyprus
In Greece and Cyprus the meat is typically pork, lamb or chicken, and occasionally beef, a beef Gyro is mostly referred to as "ντονερ" (doner)[citation needed]. Strips of the meat are put onto the rotisserie, and as the meat cooks chippings are sliced off. In Athens, and most of Greece, a "pita gyro" (very often confusingly called souvlaki) will contain tzatziki, tomato, onion and French fries apart from the meat. However some places offer different alternatives to the classic ingredients. Today, the most popular meats for gyro in Greece are pork or chicken. A pita gyro with pork will be served with tzatziki as a dressing, whereas the chicken dressings vary from shop to shop but are most often a variant on mayonnaise. In Thessaloniki an order of "pita gyro" includes tomato, onion, French fries, mustard and/or tomato sauce in addition to the meat. Pitas are available in at least three types: 'plain', 'Cypriot', and 'Arabian' in some chain restaurants, however in most places only 'Plain' is offered. 'Plain' pita is around 20cm in diameter and the thickest and greasiest of the three. 'Cypriot' pita are the same size but somewhat thinner, and are split like pocket bread. Finally, 'Arabian' pitas are crispy, and the flattest and largest. On the island of Crete, pork meat is the most popular filling although in some of the larger cities (notably the city of Chania) there are also chicken (and even falafel) alternatives. Cretans usually enjoy strained yoghurt in lieu of tzatziki, and many stands offer "Russian sauce" which is a mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise. In Kos, a Greek island in the Aegean sea, the locals wrap chicken and pork in a pita bread and tzatziki sauce, mayonnaise, and fried potatoes are put in the wrap. This variation usually costs around 1 Euro (regional prices may vary).
United States
Gyros was introduced to the Chicago area in 1968, and remains most popular there, but has since spread to all parts of the country. In the United States, gyros are usually made from sliced lamb, or made from minced beef or possibly a combination of minced lamb and beef. Chicken is a common alternative in many restaurants serving gyros. The pita resembles a Greek 'plain' pita, although sometimes it is split open. It is usually overfilled, making it hard for people to hold it with just one hand and consume it "on the road" with no hassle like the typical pita sold in Greece. The most common fillings are generally tomato and onion, though often feta cheese, lettuce, olives, or cucumber may be included. The only sauce available is usually tzatziki, sometimes called 'cucumber sauce'. Often these sandwiches are served in luncheonettes or diners. In the United States, many restaurants (and even Greek-American festivals) sell gyros with meat which is pre-formed into strips (as though they had been sliced from the rotisserie) and frozen. This is generally considered to be inferior to actual rotisserie meat, and has a very different taste from a Greek Gyros
Australia
Gyros in Australia are typically based on lamb, chicken or beef, or a combination of those meats. In addition to the usual fillings of onion, lettuce and tomato, extra fillings may include bulgur (cooked wheat), hummus, cheese and tabouli. The sauce is usually a yogurt sauce such as tzatziki, but chilli sauce (often Thai sweet chilli sauce) can also be used. The pita bread may be quickly toasted before the dish is assembled or the entire dish may be toasted in a sandwich press after assembly. Due to the range of nationalities in Australia, there can be some confusion between similar products such as gyros, souvlaki, döner kebab, and shawarma. All product names are used, depending on the food store, the national group, or community in question. Different names are favoured in different regions of Australia. In South Australia they are known (both in the singular and plural) as yiros, a rendering of the the normal modern Greek pronunciation into the Roman alphabet. In New South Wales they are known as doner kebabs or kebabs in Turkish or Lebanese shops or yeeros/yiros in Greek shops. In Queensland and Western Australia they are called kebabs. In Victoria (which has a large Greek population) they are generally known as gyros or souvlaki.
These articles are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. They use material from the Wikipedia articles Gyros and Avgolemono
