Donair

This is the first of a series of posts about the local specialties that you'll find across the Maritimes. I'll start with one of the quintessential Maritimer dishes: the donair. The astute amongst you may be saying "but donairs are Turkish!" Not this donair. The Maritime version of the donair- often called a Halifax Donair, is similar to Lebanese Shawarma, or Greek Gyros, and was, according to legend, invented in Halifax's fabled Pizza Corner. The donair experience is very archetypical: walk in to almost any small, locally run pizza place in the Maritimes, and you'll see a rack of beef on a spit behind the counter, cooking vertically. You'll usually pay around 6-8 dollars for one, sometimes ten. Donairs consist of meat, sauce, tomatoes and onions. In New Brunswick, you'll usually also find lettuce. There are two signature aspects to the donair: the meat, and the sauce. Donair meat is a spicy rotisserie-style beef, cut into long thin strips. Donair sauce is a thick and creamy sweet sauce, with a hint of garlic. Both have been incorporated into a wide variety of other dishes. Most pizzerias also serve donair pizza, which incorporates all of the above ingrediants, with the donair sauce replacing tomato sauce, with the whole thing being covered in cheese, of course. Donair sauce is also a common dipping sauce with garlic fingers (or the Maritime variant, cheesy garlic fingers), or other types of pizza. Recently, donair egg rolls have also become a popular gimmick. Anyone in the Maritimes for their first visit has to try a donair before leaving. Below are some suggestions for memorable donairs, but by far these are not the only options: I've had relatively few donairs that I didn't like, so don't be shy about going to the nearest pizza place and trying what they have on offer! Metro Halifax: For the biggest donair I've seen in my life, try Robert's, in North End Dartmouth. The place seems pretty run-of-the-mill, but a small donair is easily the biggest single serving of meet I've seen in my life, and for a low price. If you're a vegetarian, The Wooden Monkey, in Downtown Halifax, offers a seitan variant. I've never tried it, so I can't comment on how it compares to the traditional meat variety, but it does offer an opportunity to try this regional specialty. Fredericton: Donairs are on offer all over the Fredericton market By far my favourite donair in the province comes from Richie's Barbecue. This is a good option for people who are trying the dish for the first time, since it's not overloaded with meat, and they're quite generous with the sauce.