A
donair is a variation on the
döner kebab. It was originally introduced in
Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Canada in the early 1970s. A restaurant called
King of Donair claims to have been the first to serve this version in 1973. The owners of King of Donair had originally tried selling Greek
Gyro sandwiches, but had a hard time selling them so replaced the lamb with beef and the
tzatziki
with a sweet garlic sauce, thus inventing the Donair. When the owners
of King of Donair approached a local printer, Leo Arkelian of Halcraft
Printers to design advertising, he suggested the new anglicized
spelling, making it unique to the Halifax area.
The meat is sliced from a loaf cooked on a vertical spit, made from a
combination of ground beef, flour or bread crumbs, and various spices.
The sweet sauce is made from evaporated milk, sugar, vinegar, and
garlic. The meat and sauce are served rolled in a flat-bread pita with
diced tomato and onion. The donair is very popular throughout the
Atlantic provinces of Canada, and is also available in some other areas
of the country like Alberta and
Southern Ontario,
with many fast food pizza restaurants also featuring donairs on the
menu. Some also offer a donair pizza featuring all of the donair
ingredients served on a pizza crust. A
Donair dipping sauce may also be included.
