Question by Samian’s Fifteenth Account: Is the Russian “shashlik” the same thing as what we Americans call the “shish kabob”?
I saw shashlik being prepared in a Soviet film, and I was curious enough to look it up on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shashlik
It looks very similar to a shish kabob! Are they the same? If not, how are they different? 🙂
Balshoye spasibo! ))
Answers and Views:
Answer by Vladimir ILL
Shish kebab are hundreds of loafs of meat, vertically turning near a strong source of constant heat – when you ask for it, the shopkeeper takes a sharp knife and cuts very thin slices of that “tower of meat” .In Russia the thing exists – under an other name ” shoman”
Shashlik are individual and VERY russian -this is something european white russian families can propose to you just a s kind of picnic – it requires cubs of meat ( lamb… ) and metal bars – then wood fire –
generally one shashlik is served to each person – some of them are DELICIOUS – as shish kebab is sanitary doubtful and only commercial
Read all the answers in the comments.
Give your own answer to this question!
www.freewebs.com/bel says
Neither shashlik is Russian nor shish kabab American, otherwise they are similar more or less.
arsanlupin says
While I am not from the former Soviet Union, I did learn to enjoy shashlik when I visited Russia the first time, and I made a point of enjoying it whenever I could. The best I had so far was in an Azerbaijani restaurant in the shopping mall underneath Independence Square in Kiev. They had 17 varieties of shashlik. I had lamb and my girlfriend had veal – and it was wonderful! There is a restaurant in Odessa's Arkadia complex named Anastasia that supposedly had the finest shashlik in Odessa, but I could never get there when they were open. In St. Petersburg it's the Old Europe Bar & Barbeque at 22/24 Nevsky Prospekt.
The differences: in America we might use a wooden skewer, and we usually include vegetables on the skewer along with the meat. Shashlik is only meat, and it is always on a metal skewer. In fact the traditional skewer looks a little like a small sword: flat blade with point, and a wooden handle. Also, shashlik meat isn't smothered in a barbecue sauce that smothers the flavor of the meat; it depends on the natural flavor of the meat itself.
Damn – you made me hunger for shashlik just answering this question! LOL!
Squeaky P says
They ARE the same. Vladimir is wrong, he is describing doner kebab. Shish kebab is prepared the same way as shashlik, but of course there were some differences according to local or individual tastes.