Shawarma vs. Kebab

Main Difference

The main difference between Shawarma and Kebab is that the Shawarma is a Levantine meat dish inspired by döner and Kebab is a variety of skewered meals originating in the Middle East

• Shawarma

  Shawarma (; Arabic: شاورما‎) is a dish in Middle Eastern cuisine consisting of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in a cone-like shape, and roasted on a slowly-turning vertical rotisserie or spit. Originally made of lamb or mutton, today’s shawarma may also be chicken, turkey, beef, or veal. Thin slices are shaved off the cooked surface as it continuously rotates. Shawarma is one of the world’s most popular street foods, especially in Egypt and the countries of the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, and beyond.

• Kebab

  Kebabs (also kabobs) are various cooked meat dishes, with their origins in Middle Eastern cuisine. Many variants are popular throughout Asia, and around the world.

  In Indian English and in the languages of the Middle East, other parts of Asia, and the Muslim world, kebab is a broad term covering a wide variety of grilled meat dishes. Although kebabs are often cooked on a skewer, many types of kebab are not. Kebab dishes can consist of cut up or ground meat or seafood, sometimes with fruits and vegetables; cooked on a skewer over a fire, or like a hamburger on a grill, baked in a pan in an oven, or as a stew; and served with various accompaniments according to each recipe. The traditional meat for kebabs is most often mutton or lamb, but regional recipes may include beef, goat, chicken, fish, or more rarely due to religious prohibitions, pork.

  In most majority English-speaking countries, two of the most prevalent and familiar kebab dishes are shish kebab and doner kebab. Either of these are often simply referred to as a “kebab” in English.

• Kebab (noun)

  a dish of pieces of meat, fish, or vegetables roasted or grilled on a skewer or spit.