Athens-Style Pork Gyros in Pita (Γύρος Χοιρινός σε Πίτα)

Athens-style pork gyros in pita is the street-grill wrap that smells of oregano, browned pork fat, warm bread, and potatoes salted straight from the fryer. The Athenian version is simple and direct: pork shaved thin, tzatziki, tomato, onion, fries, and a soft pita brushed and warmed so it folds around everything without cracking.

The method that decides it is the stacking. A flat piece of pork in a pan gives you a cutlet. Thin slices pressed tightly together, roasted, shaved, and crisped at the edges give you something close to the vertical spit at home. Use pork neck if you can find it, because it has the fat the dish depends on. Lean loin makes polite, dry strips, and no one waits in line for polite gyros.

I don't pretend a home oven is a neighborhood psistaria, but it can honor the dish if you keep its order. Stack first, shave second, crisp last. Then wrap while the pita is hot. The region is the dish's surname, and this one belongs to the urban grill counters of Athens as much as to the hand that folds it quickly in paper and passes it across the counter.