Kebab vs Kabob
Kebabs are sizzling chunks of meat grilled on a skewer or a spit on an open flame or any other heat source. Kebabs are a popular form of snacks in many countries especially Middle East, Arab countries, South and Central Asia, and some parts of Europe. They are considered delicious by most westerners who call it kabobs. There is a lot of confusion in the minds of many as whether the kebab and kabob refer to the same delicacy or not. This is also because of mind boggling varieties of grilled meat delicacies being sold in restaurants, in the name of both kebabs and kabobs in North America and UK. Let us take a closer look.
There are many Indian and Pakistani restaurants in North America as well as in UK where one can find different recipes under grilled non vegetarian category. Kebabs dominate these menus with names like Kakori kebabs, Boti Kebabs, Shammi kebab, Tangri kebab, Galauti kebab, Chicken tikka etc. being there confusing people. Then there are some restaurants that use the spelling kabob for the same recipes that are written as kebab by other restaurants. Probably this is because of the transliteration of the Arabic word for kebab by the Europeans. They spelled it kebab listening to the sound used by the Arabs, but some also use the spelling kabob that has stuck.
If one looks up dictionary to find the meaning of kabob, he finds that it has been defined as chunks of meat that has been marinated along with vegetables threaded on a skewer and grilled on a flame. However, the same definition is found for kebabs making it all the more confusing. Among all countries where kebabs are eaten, it is this spelling that is used and only Afghanistan seems to be a country where the pronunciation of the delicious meat grilled over skewers seems to be that of other spelling variant that is kabob. Thus, we have chapli kabob, shammi kabob, and kabob e chopan
Kebab vs Kabob
• The words kabob and kebab refer to the same delicacy that is prepared with chunks of meat grilled on a skewer.
• The spelling kabob is mostly used by North Americans as they try to transliterate the sound for the dish that is made with grilled meat in Arab countries. They try to translate the Arabic sound into English and use two variations namely kebabs and kabobs.
• Turkish shish kebab is called shish kabob by Americans and they make it by threading meat balls on a skewer along with vegetables and tomatoes and eating the cooked meat directly from the stick.