Grilled Pork Souvlaki with Fresh Pita

Many of us associate souvlaki with grilled lamb, but in the back alleys and on the roadsides of Greece, pork and chicken are most often served. Charles Bililis, founder of Souvla Restaurants in San Francisco, gave us this recipe for typical Greek street food. This dish should be prepared at home, especially for a party. Most of this dish can be prepared in advance, meat and pita bread are prepared in a matter of minutes, and they are easy to serve. All you have to do is put the hot skewers and warm pita on plates, lay out the toppings, and let everyone make their own sandwiches (or you can wrap them up if you want, as outlined below). Just make sure that there are a lot of napkins - souvlaki turns out deliciously juicy.What to drink: Souvla Restaurant serves wines and light beers produced and bottled in Greece for the Domaine Skouras restaurant. The wines include crisp white wine fermented from stainless steel (grape varieties: 70% Roditis, 30% moscofillero); rose wine, the most popular in the restaurant (70% Agiorgitiko, 30% Moscofillero); and medium-strength red wine (100% Agiorgitiko). Wines can be purchased at all Souvla restaurants, as well as at Bi-Rite Markets in San Francisco and Arlequin Wine Shop. A good alternative that's easy to find outside of San Francisco: Dry Creek Vineyard 2016 Sauvignon Blanc (Dry Creek Valley; $ 20).
Lay out the hot sauce for watering. "I can see that all the Greeks are having a seizure right now," Bililis says. "They don't turn out sharp. But the Americans like it."* In the United States, Pork is no longer affected by trichinosis, so it does not need to be cooked until it is well-cooked and dry, as it used to be.Prepare in advance: pork in marinade, up to 1 day, chilled. For other cooking options, see separate recipes.Note: Nutritional analysis is provided for each serving (pork only).Roast the skewers on the grill (with the lid on the gas), browning on all sides, until cooked as you like (for medium *, this means a total of about 8 minutes on coals and 10 minutes when using gas). Transfer the hot souvlaki to a platter and drizzle with lemon-oregano sauce, "to give them a bit of brightness and flavor," says Cervone. Reheat the pita bread if it's cold, Billies advises. "They're more elastic when they're warm."Prepare the sandwiches: Remove the bay leaves from the skewers, if using. Arrange a piece of parchment on the work surface so that it looks like a rhombus. Place the warm pita bread on the top corner of the lozenge, so that it protrudes slightly beyond the parchment. Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons of yogurt sauce - "You don't have to go crazy with it," says Bililis - then place a piece of pork on a skewer in the center. Top the pork with 1/2 cup cucumber and tomato salad, then 1/4 cup pickled onion. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of feta.Using parchment as a base, stack the pita bread sides on top of each other. Wrap the parchment around the sides of the sandwich and fold the ends of the paper under the sandwich. Fill and wrap the rest of the pita bread in the same way.