The Kebab Empire

At almost every spice route port, from Istanbul to Singapore.

Few dishes are so ubiquitous and so varied as kebabs, which have conquered the world under a myriad of glorious guises but all trace back to the same roots.

With their origins in Turkey, kebabs in their earliest form were cubes of meat skewered onto swords and roasted over open fires, an ideal method to feed soldiers travelling to new lands. The Ottoman Empire spread word from Athens to Baghdad; Afghans took them to India, where they were popularised by the Mughals; Arab traders carried the dream of these smoky morsels along sea routes to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, even as far as Japan. In each new home, local influences enveloped the concept and made something distinctive and redolent of its geography.