I am looking for a meat supplier that is either located in the United
States, or can export to the United States.

The meat is used in 'kebabs' that are available throughout Australia
and in some parts of Europe.  The meat (chicken, lamb, or beef) is
marinated and then placed onto a "cone" and cooked in a vertical
rotisserie.  For an example, see http://www.utk.com.au.

Please note, this meat is different from gyro meat, which is ground up
with spices and pressed into a cone.  The meat I am looking for is not
ground up.  There is a similar mexican dish called "al pastor" that
uses pork.

I have already looked into Grecian Delight and Kronos Foods and
neither of these companies carry the type of meat I am looking for.

If there are no current manufacturers of this meat, then a company
that is capable of producing it given a recipe will be sufficient.

Dear oldskool79,

I quite understand the difficulty you've had in searching for the meat
you desire, as I've had a hard time of it myself. Part of the trouble
is that this meat is made in two different styles, but each style is
called by the same variety of names.

What you call kebab, others call doner, gyro, shwarma, or souvlaki.
These are translations into different Mediterranean cultures of the
same idea, namely that of carving thin slices from a vertically
rotating tower of meat and wrapping them in a sandwich of some kind.
The original and true version is either the doner kebab of Turkey or
the gyro of Greece, depending on whether you ask a Turk or a Greek.

Wikipedia: Gyro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyro

Wikipedia: Doner Kebab
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%F6ner_kebab

The tower of meat can be made from lamb, beef, chicken, a blend of
lamb and beef, or even from pork in certain quarters, but that is not
where the principal divide lies. Rather, as you have observed, there
is the layered tower of meat that you saw in Australia, which is the
more traditional variety. Then there is the smooth cone of ground and
compressed meat which is prevalent in the American marketplace,
doubtless due to its ease of manufacture, storage, and transportation.

You don't want the smooth cone, but the layered tower. So what you
want shouldn't look like this

Grecian Delight: Gyros Cones
http://www.greciandelight.com/store/product.asp?productid=56&cat1=2

or this

Kronos Products: Gyrokones
http://www.kronosproducts.com/pages/products_frame.htm

but like the tower at bottom right here,

AA Kebabs: Products
http://uk.geocities.com/harrymj/main.htm

which contrasts sharply with the smooth cone at upper left on the same page.

In another picture, at the left side of this page,

Chicken George Kebabs
http://www.chickengeorge.biz/products.htm

we see two layered towers alongside a smooth cone. I agree with you
that the towers look far more appetizing than the cone.

I wasn't able to get in touch with AA Kebabs or Chicken George, the
U.K. firms responsible for the above websites, since their phone
numbers are out of service, and they haven't answered the email I sent
them.

You'll be pleased to know that I did find a meat producer in
Thessaloniki, Greece, who makes exactly the product you're looking
for. They call it a gyro, but it's the proper layered tower of meat,
not the gyro cones of America. See the picture at bottom right.

Passias: Products
http://www.passias.gr/en/en_kreatosmata.asp

Their email address doesn't work, but their telephone does.

E. G. Passias SA, Meat and Sausage Manufacturers
P. Athinagora Str. 7, N. Efkarpia
P.O. 56429 Thessaloniki, Greece
Tel: 30 2310 682 777
Fax: 30 2310 683 468

Passias is a full-fledged manufacturing firm with international
delivery capability, but the cost of shipping from Greece and paying
U.S. duties may turn out to be prohibitive.

However, I have found a firm in the U.S. that will prepare a large
quantity of cooked meat for you according to a recipe that you
provide. The company is Deli Star Corporation, based in Illinois.

Deli Star Corporation
http://www.delistarinc.com/

I have corresponded with their sales manager, Justin Siegel, whose
contact information is the following.

Justin T. Siegel
Manager, Marketing and Sales
Deli Star Corporation
211 E. Ohio Street
Suite #1609
Chicago, IL 60611
 
Phone: 312.595.0081
Fax: 312.595.0084
Cell: 773.505.0680
Email: jtsiegel@delistarinc.co

Mr. Siegel informs me that Deli Star does not deal in lamb products,
but its Research and Development division can manufacture chicken and
beef products according to specification as long as you place a large
order.

If you feel that my answer is incomplete or inaccurate in any way, please
post a clarification request so that I have a chance to meet your needs
before you assign a rating.

Regards,

leapinglizard

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Clarification of Answer by leapinglizard-ga on 09 Sep 2004 12:36 PDT

I've just noticed that two of the links above are faulty due to the
respective websites' use of frames. I meant to show you the bad gyro
cone from Kronos, here,

http://www.kronosproducts.com/pages/prod_cones.htm

and the AA Kebab page showing a bad gyro cone at top left as well as a
good gyro tower at bottom right.

http://uk.geocities.com/harrymj/our_products.htm

leapinglizard

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Request for Answer Clarification by oldskool79-ga on 10 Sep 2004 09:07 PDT

leapinglizard,
Thanks for your answer.  I am just waiting to contact www.passias.gr
to verify they can export the US and then I will accept this answer.  
Also, you mentioned you had a hard time finding this meat yourself. 
Are you in the US?  Please contact me at chris "at" qubux.com.

Thanks,
Chris

---

Clarification of Answer by leapinglizard-ga on 10 Sep 2004 09:45 PDT

I'm afraid Google Answers guidelines prohibit Researchers from
contacting customers directly. However, I'm pleased to correspond with
you further via Clarifications or Comments.

I am not in the U.S., but I made clear in all my contact with meat
suppliers that I was looking for a supplier within or to the United
States.

I also have a personal connection to gyro/doner/souvlaki sandwiches. I
visited Athens about ten years ago, when I purchased a fresh, warm
gyro from a street vendor for about fifty cents. It was one of the
single best things I've ever eaten, and the rotating tower of lamb
strips made a deep impression on me. In my later visits to the famous
smoked-meat and souvlaki joints of Montreal, I never found anything to
equal that simple fifty-cent gyro.

leapinglizard