Skewer facts for kids
A skewer is a long, thin stick, usually made of metal or wood. People use skewers to hold small pieces of food together. This is especially helpful when cooking over a grill or in an oven. Sometimes, when someone says "chicken skewers," they mean the whole dish, not just the stick!
The word "brochette" comes from French and also means skewer. When you see "en brochette" on a menu, it means the food is served on a skewer. This cooking style is popular for grilled meats or seafood. Many delicious kebab dishes around the world are made using skewers.
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All About Skewers
Different Kinds of Skewers
Skewers come in different materials. Metal skewers are usually made from strong stainless steel. They have a sharp point on one end to easily slide food on. The other end often has a handle to help you turn or remove the food.
Wooden skewers are also very common. They are often made from bamboo or other sturdy woods like birch or beech. If you use wooden skewers for grilling, it's a good idea to soak them in water first. This helps stop them from burning over the hot flames. A similar cooking tool is a rotisserie or spit. This is a large rod that slowly turns meat as it cooks, ensuring it cooks evenly.
A Look Back: Skewers Through History
People have been cooking food on sticks for a very long time! Some scientists believe that a burnt stick found at a 300,000-year-old site in Germany might have been used to cook meat over a fire.
Ancient civilizations also used tools similar to skewers. In the Minoan city of Akrotiri, archaeologists found stone "fire dogs" from before 1700 BCE. These stones had special grooves that might have held early skewers. The ancient Greek writer Homer even wrote about meat being roasted on spits in his famous story, the Iliad. In Classical Greece, small skewers were called obeliskos.
There are also stories from the Middle Ages about soldiers in the Middle East. They would cook meat by skewering it on their swords over a fire! This shows how useful skewers have been throughout history. One very famous skewered dish is the shish kebab. The word "şiş" (shish), which means skewer in Turkish, appeared in writings as early as the 11th century.
Delicious Foods on Skewers
Skewers are used to make many different kinds of tasty foods all over the world.
Kebabs: A Global Favorite
Many dishes cooked on skewers are called kebabs. Kebabs are popular meat dishes found in Middle Eastern cuisine and other parts of the world. Some examples include Turkish shish kebab, Iranian jujeh kabab, Chinese chuan, and Southeast Asian satay.
It's important to remember that not all kebabs are cooked on skewers. For example, chapli kebab is a patty that isn't skewered. But sometimes, people in English-speaking countries might use the word "kebab" to mean any food served on a skewer.
Other Amazing Skewered Dishes
Beyond kebabs, many other dishes use skewers. In America, you might find city chicken or corn dogs. Brazil has churrasco, and Peru offers anticucho. Indonesia is famous for satay, while Italy has arrosticini. Greece enjoys souvlaki, and Japan has kushiyaki and kushikatsu. Korea features jeok and kkochi, and Nepal serves sekuwa. Portugal has espetada, and Serbia cooks ražnjići. Vietnam offers nem nướng and chạo tôm, China has shaokao, and Malaysia-Singapore enjoys Lok-lok.
Fun Snacks on a Stick
Small skewers or toothpicks are often used for appetizers and snacks. The Spanish dish pincho gets its name from these small skewers. Tiny, sometimes fancy, sticks made of glass, metal, wood, or bamboo are used as olive picks or cocktail sticks to decorate drinks.
Many types of snack foods are sold "on a stick" or skewer. You can find these at outdoor markets, fairs, and roadside stands around the world. Think of candy apples, bananacue, ginanggang, elote, telur gulung, and tanghulu. They are all fun to eat this way!
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Chenjeh kebab in Iran
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Seafood skewers sold in South Korea: mun-kkochi (giant octopus), sora-kkochi (horned turban), and jju-kkochi (webfoot octopus).
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Turkey skewer on a plate from Algeria
See also
In Spanish: Pincho (utensilio) para niños
