Ever look back and wonder when you first encountered an item that’s now one of your go-to menu items?
Oh, I can remember when pizzas first invaded our neighborhood – the smell of oregano easily triggers that preschool memory!
But the Greek wrap called a gyro – and pronounced HE-ro – remains a mystery. I may have discovered it, along with souvlaki, in the late ’70s in the University District of Seattle, back when we’d visit from the interior desert. Or it may have come from a takeout place we ordered from at the newspaper, a decade-and-a-half later.
I do remember a heavenly example from a wood-fired stove at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine, back in 2002 – along with a wait in a very long line.
More recently, it’s been the highlight of dinner before our weekly choir rehearsals in Watertown, Massachusetts.
Just remember, no onions on mine, please.
Jnana's Red Barn 
I grew up in a mixed ethnic neighborhood in CT and real (not out of a jar or frozen food box) Italian food was easy to come by. But Greek food was virtually unknown. It wasn’t until I lived in Duluth, MN in the 1970’s that I had my first gyro (which I pronounced as “guy-row” at the order counter) in a little hole-in-the-wall joint. Spicy, garlicky lamb in a hot pita-bread made on the spot.