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WORDS HARRIET DAVIDSON. PHOTOGRAPHY ALICIA TAYLOR.STYLING ROSIE MEEHAN. FOOD PREPARATION PETA DENT. ALL PROPS STYLIST’S OWN

GOURMET TRAVELLER 37

In Melbourne, Rumi’s takeaway version takes things

luxe: spiced roast lamb shoulder on fried potatoes tossed

with toum, za’atar and three cheeses. For the classic,

Sydneysiders hit King Kebab House in Campbelltown.

Find

one

The Middle East meets the milk bar in the tasiest of ways.

T

his Australian creation is more

than a feed for punters seeking

late-night ballast: it’s a dish

of our time and a symbol of

Australia’s cultural diversity, melding kebab

shops with the traditions (and chips) of the

old-school milk bar. Former Labor MP

Sam Dastyari gave it a mention in federal

parliament and it serves as the introduction

to his 2017 memoir,One Halal of a Story:

“We start with the container, because

there’ll be so much going on; things will

need to be kept under control. Then

there’s the base – that is, the chips

• the foundation from which we build our
  delicacy. Next comes the cheese, a layer of
  salty smoothness. On top of that we pile
  up the meat. Lastly, and most importantly,
  the holy trinity of sauces – garlic, BBQ and
  chilli.” Its popularity heightened through
  its dedicated, now 185,000 member-strong,
  Facebook group and it was named
  Macquarie Dictionary’s 2016 People’s Choice
  Word of the Year. We’re not all for the
  styrofoam box and plastic fork but it’s
  what’s on the inside that matters, right?

Halal snack pack

THE MEAT

Halal-certified doner kebab

meat is shaved from a spit and

gets a go on the grill before it

tops the chips. Lamb, beef or

chicken, or a mix for the truly

bold, are the options here.

Falafel is a meat-free

alternative, but can you

still call it an HSP?

THE CHEESE

It gets two goes; pre- and

post-meat. Shredded

supermarket cheese is

sprinkled over hot chips, then

another layer added after the

meat. “You can never have

enough cheese,” says Dastyari.

THE SAUCES

Chilli, garlic and

barbecue make up

the “holy trinity”.

Each is squeezed

across the meat in

a criss-cross fashion,

evenly saucing

the calorific pile.

Hummus, sweet

chilli and tomato

sauce are options,

if you must.

THE CHIPS

Thick, crisp and hot,

the chicken-salted,

cheese-sprinkled

chips are the base,

soaking up the juices

from the meat and

all that sauce.

Anatomy of a dish