Souvla

Ingredients

Meat

• 2.5 kgpork shoulder or neck, in 6–7 cm chunks with the fat left on (or lamb leg on the bone, same size)
• 2 tbspcoarse sea salt
• 1 tbspcoarsely cracked black pepper
• 1 tbspdried oregano (optional, and disputed)
• juice of 1 lemon, squeezed at the fire, not before

Fire and serving

• 3 kghardwood or olive-wood charcoal
• 6pitta breads, warmed
• 1lemon, cut into wedges
• 1red onion, sliced, with parsley and sumac
• a village salad of tomato, cucumber and olives

Directions

1. Cut the meat into genuinely large chunks, 6–7 cm. Souvla is not souvlaki: small cubes dry out over this long, slow fire.
2. Season only with coarse salt and cracked pepper, working it in with your hands. Purists on the island add nothing else. Rest at room temperature 2 hours.
3. Thread the chunks tightly onto a long souvla skewer, packed together so they baste each other, with the grain running along the skewer.
4. Build the charcoal in a foukou rotisserie and let it burn down completely to grey embers. There must be no flame at any point; flame chars the outside and leaves the middle raw.
5. Set the skewer high above the coals, roughly 25–30 cm, and turn continuously. Modern foukous have a motor; older ones you turn by hand.
6. Cook 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, gradually lowering the skewer as the coals fade. The fat should render and drip slowly, never flare.
7. For the last 20 minutes, lower the meat closer to the embers to crust the outside dark brown and crisp the fat cap.
8. Test by pulling a chunk off: juicy right through, no pink at the centre, and pulling apart under a fork. Squeeze lemon over the meat on the skewer, rest 5 minutes, and serve in warm pitta with onion, parsley and salad.

Technique

• The whole technique is distance and patience. A souvla cooked in 40 minutes over hot coals is a failure; the two hours are what render the fat and make the meat silky.
• Cypriots argue endlessly about whether oregano or lemon belongs on souvla before cooking. The dominant view is salt and pepper only, with lemon squeezed at the table.
• Pork neck, the lemonato cut, is the favourite because its fat seams keep the meat moist through the long turn.

Substitutions

• No rotisserie: use a kettle barbecue with the coals banked to the sides, meat on the grate in the middle, lid on, vents half open, turning every 15 minutes for about 2 hours.

Variations

• Souvla of lamb shoulder on the bone, more common at Easter and in the Troodos villages.
• Chicken souvla using whole thighs and drumsticks, done in about an hour.

History

Large chunks of meat cooked slowly on a long skewer over charcoal in a foukou, a Sunday and Easter tradition.

Frequently asked questions

What is Souvla?

Souvla is a main from Cyprus: large chunks of pork or lamb turned slowly over charcoal. Large chunks of meat cooked slowly on a long skewer over charcoal in a foukou, a Sunday and Easter tradition.

How long does Souvla take to make?

Souvla takes 20 min plus 2 hr resting of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Souvla?

Yes, within limits. No rotisserie: use a kettle barbecue with the coals banked to the sides, meat on the grate in the middle, lid on, vents half open, turning every 15 minutes for about 2 hours.

What is the most important thing to get right in Souvla?

Build the charcoal in a foukou rotisserie and let it burn down completely to grey embers. There must be no flame at any point; flame chars the outside and leaves the middle raw.