Leave out the brandy and toss in some assorted shellfish and that’s cioppino, which was developed by Italian-American fishermen in San Francisco around 1900.
I found this link
which says the guy had worked in Chicago, but who knows what he picked up, and where…
From your link, via Google translate;
“Customers show up at the end of a busy day and a tired chef whips something up with what he’s got left in the kitchen and the customer ends up loving it” is the apocryphal origin story for lots of recipes. Off the top of my head, it’s been applied to nachos, Cobb salad, Buffalo wings, hot dog buns, ice cream cones, hamburgers, the Hot Brown sandwich, the Rochester garbage plate, chicken and waffles, and probably lots of other regional dishes as well. It’s somewhat refreshing to know it’s not just an American phenomenon.
Two places in Chicago serve a red sauce with their gyros; The Athenian Room and Cross Rhodes in Evanston. It’s more of a red wine reduction sauce.
When I was in Greece in 1991, the red sauce was served at most places in Glifada/Voula neighborhood of Athens. I came to love the combination with tzatziki.
Re: pork, as much as lamb is associated with Greece, they may love pork even more. Pork souvlaki and gyros are my absolute favorite.
I had minimal expectations for this recipe for gyros meat. It’s easy, and essentially just a mix of spiced ground beef and lamb, handled extensively to get a dense texture. But once cool, you can slice it surprisingly thin. In a wrap with feta, shallots, cucumber salad dressing (easy, worked well, not authentic) and lemon juice, if tasted genuine, even served cold. I’d say it was 80-90% as good as the delicious ones I enjoy once in a while. It is more nutritious too - since the bread had 15g protein and lots of fibre, the meats were lean. I modified the recipe by adding onion, more spices (as suggested in the reviews) and cottage cheese to further boost protein (an invisible ingredient).
You can easily make passable gyros meat at home! Who knew?. (9 out of 10 stars, says I).
I assume this knowledge will come in handy during Covid 2027.
If you’re feeling lazy and don’t want to make your own gyros meat, Trader Joe’s sells it in packages of pre-cooked slices (like cold cuts). Or at least they did – TJ’s is notorious for discontinuing products if they don’t sell well enough.
ETA: They do still have it!
No access to Trader Joe’s in Canada, but you could probably find gyros meat somewhere. The homemade version cost about US$8/lb, mostly since ground lamb is pricier than beef. I suspect the fact it has not been frozen is a plus. It is much better than you think it will be. I would give it a 2 out of 10 for difficulty, but it makes enough for a crowd. I’d rather buy the sandwich if I was feeling lazy.
The CostCo here in Arizona carries packaged, sliced gyro. It was… not good.
Ignore the poster who did not make the recipe but said it could not be gyros if not done on a rotisserie. It can taste the same, even if true. I could hand slice it 1/10” thin. I baked it in a convection oven free-form (no pan) for just 30 minutes - an hour seems a lot. The kneading makes a dense loaf, no need to press down further.
I would agree with all of this - (review from above food.com link)
“First, I am a food snob so I was very sceptical of this recipe. Anyway, I did add a ton of rosemary, oregano, and grated onion to this as well as fresh garlic and salt/pepper because it seemed under seasoned as written to me and I know there is oregano and rosemary in the meat at my favorite greek restaurant. Anyway, this technique actually WORKED! IT IS GYRO MEAT! It has that striated appearance, savory flavor, and it doesnt “crumble” like meatloaf. It sliced beautifully! I baked in a foil roasting pan with another the same size on top and 3 cans inside to press down on the loaf. Amazing!” (Random Review)
I’m wondering if a little bit of baking soda to the meat mixture would help with the texture. The baking soda alters the meta’s pH and causes the proteins to … do something … and the result is a springier texture. I use it whenever I make cevapi (a Balkan type of sausage – about 1/2 tsp per pound) for the texture. It may be appropriate here. I don’t see any internet recipes advocating it specifically for gyros, though, so I may be off the mark. I’d be curious to try.
On seeing it cool and warm up, I think the texture is actually pretty close, but maybe the soda would help? Dunno. I can hand slice it to 1/25 of an inch and it holds up, which surprises me. This recipe is a gem, but I think it requires more spices as described.
There are different blends and recipes even within the same company. Most of the reason the list below is so long is that the two major producers in Chicago (Kronos & Grecian Delight) recently merged but have retained their individual catalogs so we have:
Grecian Delight
- Old World chicken
- Old World beef & lamb
- Old World pork
- All beef
- Athenian beef & lamb
- Chicago style beef & lamb
- Halal beef & lamb
- Chicken cones
Kronos
- Traditional beef & lamb
- Central beef & lamb
- Titan beef & lamb
- Windy City beef & lamb
- Hellene beef & lamb
- Halal beef
- Halal beef & lamb
- Chicken cones
I couldn’t begin to tell you what the differences are among the beef & lamb types (and these are just the food service cones) but I’m certain they’re at different price points.
Are you suggesting that everywhere outside Chicago are “the hinterlands”?
Even for a Chicagoan, that’s taking civic pride a bit far.
That said, I loves me a gyro.
I have actually had a gyro in downtown Athens, but it was a while ago and I cannot remember the fine details, or what variations were on the menu (which was entirely in Greek). Maybe someone has been more recently.
Only for domestic gyro purposes 
have you not been to West Side Market? Bizarre Foods ate one there.
have you not been to West Side Market? Zimmern ate there and raved about their gyros on Bizarre Foods
The consensus seems to be gyros can be made from many meats. Though I think there is some confusion with souvlaki, shish taouk and shawarma. To me, gyros is beef and/or lamb. Looking at various recipes, one adds breadcrumbs, garlic and garlic powder, onion and onion powder, salt, pepper, lemon juice, oregano and perhaps rosemary, marjoram, cumin or other Middle Eastern spices or blends. It is easy to make at home, surprisingly so. I had good luck with lean meats but have just made a fattier one. I also have a cunning plan to try homemade tzatziki and bottled souvlaki sauce.
Aside: These new high protein wraps are amazing. With a tasty filling you wouldn’t know. Are these available in the States (noting that everything in a Canadian grocery tends to be available in the States, except a few Loblaws seasonal specials…)
A month or so ago I tried to make vegetarian gyro meat using Impossible burger and a bottle of “Greek seasoning.” Mixed it up with an egg and breadcrumbs like meatloaf, baked it, cut it into thin slices, fried the slices, then dressed it up in the usual manner.
Wasn’t exactly perfect of course, but it was pretty good, close enough for me, and to my vegetarian wife, for whom it was specifically prepared, she doesn’t know any better so she loved it.