Persian Grilling–Kababs

Since the discovery of fire, cooks have known that meats are imbued with a wonderful flavor when grilled over an open flame. The Persian word for grilled meat, kabab (I prefer this spelling and pronunciation; its common English variants are kebob and kabob), has entered the West’s culinary vocabulary.

Kababs, convenient and virtually foolproof, are very popular. The meat is marinated in herbs, onion, garlic, and vinegar or lime juice or yogurt. Then, when it is nearly time to eat, the meat is threaded onto skewers (a small piece of lamb-tail fat can be placed between every two pieces of meat) and cooked over glowing charcoals for a subtly perfumed, flavor. Iranians prefer the very tender meat from the loin, but leg of lamb or even a beef sirloin can also be used. These are all best when marinated for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days before grilling.