What is Souvla?
SOUVLA
KONTOSOUVLI
KOKORETSI
OVELIAS
PSITO
EXOHIKO
PANSETTA
SPLINANTERO
ARNI SOUVLAS
KEFALAKIA
ARNI STI SOUVLA
SOUVLISTO ARNI
KOTOPOULO SOUVLAS
ROLO
FRIGADELIA
SOUVLA KONTOSOUVLI KOKORETSI OVELIAS PSITO EXOHIKO PANSETTA SPLINANTERO ARNI SOUVLAS KEFALAKIA ARNI STI SOUVLA SOUVLISTO ARNI KOTOPOULO SOUVLAS ROLO FRIGADELIA
Souvla means spit, large skewer, which Greeks have used for cooking since the Bronze Age. In Cyprus, the word is also commonly used to refer to the dish itself.
Katsikaki souvlas (goat of the souvla) and kokoretsi in Greece.
Souvla Etymology
Soúvla (σούβλα), pronounced soo-vla, means skewer. It most likely comes from the Latin subula, meaning shoe maker’s awl – a kind of needle. Another theory is that it is derived from the ancient Greek word for souvla, ovelós. The plural or souvla is souvles.
In reality, souvla is more than a needle: it commonly refers to the large skewer, or spit, which you see throughout Greece and Cyprus. You’ll see it rotating, usually suspended horizontally over charcoal or in the gas rotisserie ovens that you’ll see inside and outside of restaurants, psistaries (grill-houses) and souvlatzidika. Souvles are used to skewer a range of meats and make a variety of dishes, as you’ll see below. One example is gyros, which is also skewered using a souvla that is placed upright. You can read more about gyros here.
What’s the difference between souvla and souvlaki?
You may already know that souvlaki is derived from the word souvla, the -ki suffix denoting the diminutive, ergo souvlaki means ‘small souvla’. You can read all about souvlaki here.
Souvlí (plural: souvliá) is another word used to describe a kind of sewing needle, and is sometimes used interchangeably to describe smaller souvles (it’s another diminutive of souvla), particularly ones that sit across the width of the grill, rather than span its full length. In Cyprus, smíla (plural: smíles) is another common word you’ll hear being used interchangeably with souvla, i.e, the skewer, and also comes from the word for a workman’s tool with a sharp edge.
What’s a ‘foukou’?
There, you’re guaranteed to encounter a foukou: the traditional Cypriot rotisserie charcoal barbecue that you’ll see in most Cypriot households. At least since the end of the 20th Century, souvles have become somewhat of a ritual that is tantamount to a way of life in Cyprus, so much so that Cypriots by default use the term souvla to refer to the popular dish itself, which is a little different to souvles in Greece. You’ll read about both below.
Cypriot-style souvles on foukoudes. Hang it in the Louvre.
What is Souvla?
Cypriot-style chicken, pork and lamb souvla on a foukou.
Souvla in Cyprus
Souvles at the Cypriot Wine Festival in Limassol.
In principle, Cypriot souvla is a straightforward concept: large (fist-sized) pieces of lamb, chicken or pork cooked on a souvla (spit), over charcoal, typically using a Cypriot rotisserie BBQ called a foukou. Traditionally, lamb would have been the default option. Souvles are slotted across the length of the foukou and rotated used an electric motor (while there are also slots for souvlakia to be placed across the length of the foukou). The pieces are served whole, usually bone-in (depending on the cut), and not chopped up like kontosouvli in Greece, as you’ll see further down. To make it well is a craft that takes honing, although, with passion and patience, anyone can do it.
How to make Cypriot souvla
Cypriots, since the end of the 20th Century, have come to eat souvla almost weekly. It’s the centre of most family gatherings, festivals and celebrations, and will also feature at most traditional grills or tavernes. Everyone has their own way of cooking it, with unsolvable debates regarding:
whether to add salt before the souvla goes on the foukou, at the beginning, the middle, just as it begins to brown, just as it begins to foam, or after it stops foaming;
whether or not to add oregano and, if so, when;
how long to cook it for;
whether the souvla is ready the first or second time it foams and, in both cases, whether it’s ready once it starts to foam appears or after it disappears;
how much charcoal to use, how strong the heat should be, and how high the skewers should be and at what points during the cooking (height is adjustable on a foukou).
That said, there are also a few givens. Most Cypriots will agree that souvla is not improved by marinades, and you’ll almost never see souvla being marinaded in Cyprus. Although it’s very rare, you may also come across iterations of souvla, with few Cypriots rarely opting to marinate the meat in things like wine or vinegar, alongside other herbs and spices. For example, there is some talk of Lysiotiki souvla being the souvla known to be marinaded, distinct to the village of Lysi, but even some Lysiotes (people from Lysi) will disagree with both the practice and that statement. As with every popular traditional dish, even though everyone commonly acknowledges the standard form, iterations and twists are always a matter of personal preference or differentiation.
You’ll always see salt being used. And the souvla is almost always served in thermal containers (thermos) to keep it warm - the reason being that Cypriots tend to cook more food than necessary and, in any case, souvla and gatherings are one and the same, hence the food needs to be kept warm for everyone to go back and put seconds. Otherwise, Cypriots will serve it in some sort of large dish, tray or platter.
It goes without saying: good-quality meat is of paramount importance when it comes to making souvla. Organic, free-range meat is always the way to go and is the exact, very logical, causal reason for which meat often tastes so good in villages and smaller towns with local agricultural economies and direct supply – either farm-to-table or direct from neighbouring farmers. This is because the animals graze freely and have a better diet and health than those reared at commercial scale.
Which cuts you should use for Cypriot souvla
And a couple of souvlakia on the right with some extra pork 😉
Cypriots will use different cuts from the whole animal – most typically lamb, chicken or pork – although some cuts are more popular and desirable than others. Everybody has their preference, but most tend to agree that certain cuts like pork neck-end/shoulder and lamb middle-neck have the optimal fat content for maximum flavour. Cuts from the whole chicken – bone in – work well, although thigh tends to be the most popular individual cut.
How to serve Cypriot souvla
Souvla is traditionally served with a squeeze of lemon juice, and sometimes a sprinkle of oregano. It is served alongside a range of side dishes, often also barbecued. For example, you’ll occasionally see potatoes added to the souvla between the meat, and sometimes onions and lemons on the ends of the skewers. This also helps to compactly secure the meat in place and prevent it from spinning or sliding apart as it cooks, which in turn helps to retain moisture and keep the meat juicy. Potatoes and onions are also commonly wrapped in foil and placed directly on the charcoal.
You’ll typically see souvla served along side things like grilled halloumi, Cypriot pastourmas (spiced sausage), loukanika (sausages), païdakia (lamb chops), sheftalia (Cypriot pork meatballs wrapped in caul fat), mushrooms, etc. All served with a squeeze of lemon juice and accompanied by salads, chopped onion and parsley, and dips like tashi/tahini, pikla (piccalilli), tzatziki, sometimes taramosalata (although it’s typically better-paired with fish and seafood) and in some cases hummus (which is a modern adoption in Greek & Cypriot cuisine, particularly in expat communities). Cypriot pita bread is another essential. Homemade classics like makaronia tou fournou (pastitsio), bourgouri (bulgur wheat), kritharaki (orzo) and koubebia (dolmadakia) are also popular ‘sides’.
Likewise, in Greece, you also might see païdakia, loukanika, and other cuts of meat being grilled on the grill while souvles cook. Home-cooked classics like pastitsio and gemista are still common sights on the dinner table, as are pites (pies/pastries), salads (Greek salad aka horiatiki, ntakos, aggourotomata), tzatziki, bread, and anything else that any given family has chosen to cook in excess.
What about souvles in Greece?
‘Souvla’ & other souvles in Greece
Before & after: goat cooked on the souvla and served chopped in ‘the village’ in Greece.
We’ve already established what Cypriots are talking about when they say ‘souvla’. What about mainland Greeks? When Greeks say ‘souvla’, they are most likely instead referring to the whole animal on the spit, most commonly lamb or goat. It is typically cooked on a slightly longer, larger skewer and takes some more preparation, as well as a rotisserie grill larger than a foukou.
While the foukou is tantamount to a national symbol in Cyprus, which almost everyone owns, Greek barbecue grills (psistaries) are typically built-in in a garden with bricks and usually look like the first picture in this piece. Where people don’t have that luxury, you may also see them using a range of portable barbecue grills, usually without the rotisserie skewers, although some business have also begun selling foukoudes in Greece too.
What is Ovelias?
The whole lamb/goat on the spit also has another popular name in Greece and Cyprus, with ancient Greek roots. Ovelías is the word specifically reserved to describe it, stemming from the ancient Greek work for souvla, ovelós. It’s a guaranteed sight in both Greece and Cyprus on special occasions like Easter and 15 August (the Assumption of the Virgin Mary).
You may also find the whole suckling pig cooked on the souvla in winter and in regions where it’s particularly popular, like the southern Peloponnese – that’s gourounopoulo/gourounopoula sti souvla.
However, Greeks won’t necessarily call the meat ‘souvla’, as Cypriots would. Instead, they might explicitly refer to the meat that is cooked on the souvla, e.g. ‘lamb on the souvla’ (arni sti souvla), ‘skewered lamb’ (souvlisto arni) or ‘lamb of the souvla’ (arni souvlas). In the last case, ‘souvlas’ does not denote the plural, but the genitive i.e. of the souvla (the plural of souvla being souvles). Otherwise, Greeks may also generally refer to meat cooked on the souvla as ‘psito’, meaning ‘cooked’. Kind of like the Greek equivalent of the Persian/Arabic word kebab. Like kebab, psito might also refer to meat cooked in the oven, making it more of a general term that varies in different contexts. The same is true of ofto.
🧠 Fun fact: although it’s less common, the word kebab is also exceptionally used to describe the whole animal on the souvla (like in Elassona) or sometimes kontosouvli. That said, kebab actually normally refers to the finely minced beef/lamb patty in Greece. There are definitely more dialectical variations and ‘village’ terms across Greece and Cyprus, some of which we won’t confuse you with here, others of which we are probably yet to encounter. Get in touch if you know any! alex@souvlakination.com :)
Goat on the souvla and kokoretsi.
Arnaki sti souvla (lamb [cooked] on the souvla) in Greece.
What’s the difference between souvla and kontosouvli?
Back to souvles. Day-to-day, you’re actually most likely to encounter kontosouvli in Greece. Kontosouvli is, you could say, to Greece what ‘souvla’ is to Cyprus, i.e. the most popular souvla dish. The two tend to vary in a number of ways, rather than merely being a dialectical nuance. You’ll see how below.
What is kontosouvli?
Kontosoúvli actually means ‘short souvli’ or ‘short skewer’ – but is not the same as souvlaki. Actually, kontosouvli is typically made on the same sort of skewer used for ovelias, Cypriot souvla and other souvles in Greece. As a dish, however, it’s quite different to all of the aforementioned.
Kontosouvli is most commonly made of large- or medium-sized chunks of meat (usually pork or chicken). It is marinaded and served chopped into bite-sized pieces, sometimes cut straight from the skewer to order. For that reason, the meat is typically de-boned before it is skewered. At some restaurants, kontosouvli may also be served whole as an individual portion on a smaller metal skewer, like a large, chunky, marinated souvlaki – something a bit closer to the linguistic definition.
When it comes to marinades, there is no one rule, although herbs and spices like paprika and oregano are most common and, of course, salt and pepper. Oil and lemon will typically feature but many souvlatzides will add things like mustard. Adding cumin, curry, turmeric and other more ‘oriental’ spices also isn’t unheard of nowadays, as people inevitably experiment with the unprecedented variety of ingredients that modern life entails. In Kefalonia, we encountered a bit of a theme across the island of BBQ sauce being used (in some traditional tavernes) to marinade kontosouvli – something many will deem to be sacrilegious. More traditionally, it may be basted with ladolemono (oil and lemon dressing) as it cooks to maintain its moisture and juiciness.
Kontosouvli is typically served with potato chips and topped with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of oregano.
Kontosouvli may be served both of the ways pictured above in Greece.
Other souvles
Given that souvles have a history that stems back to prehistoric Greece, it’s no surprise that they form the basis of many more dishes made with different meats and different cuts. Aside from the options mentioned, you’ll also encounter whole chickens on the souvla, just as you do around the world, as well as whole pork bellies (pansetta) skewered in a zig-zag shape in order hold onto the skewer. There are some more very popular options that we are yet to cover – here they are:
Kokoretsi.
What is kokoretsi?
Where you’ll see ovelias, i.e. the whole lamb/goat, cooked on the souvla, you’ll also commonly see it accompanied by kokorétsi. The reason is that kokoretsi is a skewer made out of the entrails of the animals – making it somewhat of a zero-waste delicacy that is very popular in Greece, Cyprus, the Balkans and Turkey. Nowadays, it’s popular enough that you will see it fairly often either way.
Kokoretsi is a souvla of offal – heart, lung, liver and sweetbreads – seasoned, skewered, wrapped in caul fat and then intestines. It is cooked until the intestines and caul fat form a crust, and then served sliced and topped with oregano.
What is splinantero and Frigadeli?
Splinántero is another delicacy made out of offal: more specifically, spleen and heart wrapped in caul fat and encased inside a large intestine. The filled intestine is then skewered in a zig-zag shape so that it holds onto the skewer and doesn’t spin against its rotation. Like kokoretsi it is served sliced, but is somewhat smaller and looks more like a sausage.
The main differences between splinantero and kokoretsi is that the former is prepared off the skewer while, to make kokoretsi, the entrails are first skewered and then wrapped in caul fat and intestine. Kokoretsi is also larger, while the entrails used for splinantero are sliced much more thinly so they can fit inside the intestine, which itself remains intact.
Similarly, frigadélia are small chunks of liver wrapped in caul fat, sometimes cut into medium-sized pieces and skewered using a souvla, otherwise cooked directly on the grill.
What are Kefalakia?
A kefaláki is the head of a lamb/goat that is also commonly cooked on the souvla throughout Greece and Cyprus. As you can imagine it’s typically cooked together with the whole carcass (i.e. ovelias), although you will also find skewers of kefalakia spinning at many traditional souvlatzidika and grill houses in Greece.
What is exohiko?
Eksohikó/exohikó souvles are wrapped as they cook so as to retain moisture, often in parchment (ladokolla), but sometimes in caul fat too. Kontosouvli exohiko can be made with any meat, usually pork or chicken, but works particularly well with tougher cuts of meat like wild boar (agriogourouno) and billy goat (tragio). Just like any exohiko or en papillote dishes, exohiko souvles might also contain a range of other ingredients that complement the meat, like tomatoes, vegetables and maybe even cheese.
What is Rolo?
Similar to what the Italians will call porchetta, roló is a dish made using a pork belly that is stuffed with herbs and spices, rolled into a cylinder and tied. You may also occasionally find it cooked on the souvla in Greece.
Top to bottom: kefalakia, kokoretsi and kontosouvli at a souvlatzidiko in Athens. Kalamakia aka souvlakia soaking in the ladolemono below; gyros, loukanika, kebab and biftekia to the right.