CBC and donairs: two of my favourite things

With all the discussion about our armed forces in Afghanistan, the death of Slobodan Milosevic, the lack of work on my thesis, and the personal soap opera drama going on in my program, you'd think the last thing I'd be blogging about would be donairs...but here I am, anyways.

Now, for those not from Queen's or Halifax, you may wonder, what's a donair? As a quick overview, it's slices of this meat concoction shaved off a stick (beef, bread crumbs, spices), seared, topped with tomatoes, onions, donair sweet sauce (which makes or breaks the donair, personally) and all wrapped in a pita WAY too small for the amount it has to hold. Consequently, eating it is a mess, but is it oh so delicious (especially after a night of drinking)!

I was first introduced to one on such an occasion in 3rd year I think and I absolutely loved it. I was told by someone whom I've forgotten since that the donair originated in Halifax. So when I had the opportunity to go there and the rest of Nova Scotia for field work, I obviously had to treat myself to some donair from its birthplace. Of course, the donairs there ARE so much better. And some Haligonians I had met there did further argue that donairs were indeed born in their fine city.

Returning to Kingston, some of my friends and colleagues were convinced that the donair WAS NOT invented in Halifax, but surmised that it was merely an imported Lebanese delicacy. I remained skeptical of their claim but my belief was never rock solid.

Until I watched the CBC National tonight. The last story was about John Kamoulakos of Halifax, the man the story claims to have invented the donair but is now retiring after 37 yrs of serving this messy treat. While Mr. Kamoulakos' came up with the unique recipe of meat + the specific donair sweet sauce, the possible source of uncertainty lies in its resemblance to a gyro, which uses lamb and tzatziki instead. Since he never patented the meat and sweet sauce (though from the piece, it seems like no one has at all), his claims of inventing the food are just that. This is, however, the first discussion I've ever heard about the origin of donairs not by word of mouth, but by an organization as reputable as the CBC. Therefore, until someone brings me some solid evidence that this gastronomic delight can be found outside of Canada, I am inclined to believe that Mr. Kamoulakos truly is the inventor of this piece of Haligonian cuisine.

As for more serious blogging...well, maybe after a donair.

Update: Courtesy of the Daily News, which I linked to in the post:

THE ORIGIN OF THE DONAIR

It’s 1971: Greek gyros weren’t popular with Nova Scotians, recalled John Kamoulakos. So, Peter Gamoulakos had to come up with something new. Lamb became beef. Tzatziki became a sweet donair sauce. And a new meal was created. Selling from a store on the Bedford Highway, an impressed customer asked Peter what the new creation was. Not wanting to call it a gyro, Peter looked around and saw on the spit the word “Doner.” And so it started.