Giant kebab beats the world record

AT LEAST 6,500 people feasted on an oozing one and a half tonne mass of roasting chicken meat prepared on Limassol’s waterfront on Sunday, in an attempt to break the existing record for largest doner kebab and raise money for charity.

“It went wonderfully,” said fast food restaurateur Sami Eid, who had organised the event in conjunction the Limassol Rotary Club, of which he is a member.

“We didn’t sleep last night actually and we are still in action”, said Eid, who yesterday afternoon was still cleaning up from the day before.

Eid’s crowning triumph came in breaking the world record, set in 1998 with a 1,030-kg kebab in Zurich.

“Even the mayor of Limassol, who was weighing the thing, at the beginning, he was not sure that we would be successful,” Eid said. “After that he was laughing, he came to me and told me Bravo! Even the president of the (Rotary) club, he was not expecting that we were going to do it. He said to me ‘we didn’t think you were going to do it’.”

The events of the day went largely according to plan. Just after 8am, Limassol mayor Demetris Kontides showed up to weigh the raw ingredients of the kebab, which, at 1,503.66 kilos, came in just ahead of the predicted 1,500.

After the 1,500 cleaned and de-boned chickens were stuck on to the two-metre high skewer, Kontides measured the dimensions, which were 1.51 metres in height, 1.41 metres in diameter at the base and 1.16 at the top.

Kontides told the Mail that his measurements, also observed by District officer Nicos Roussos, were in compliance with rules set out by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The kebab sat roasting and rotating until just after one o’clock, when the first portions were ready to be served on a Lebanese style pita with lemon and garlic.

Patrons bought kebab tickets for £1 each, and drink tickets from stands set up by several local manufacturers for 50 cents.

Although the feast was scheduled to end at dusk, Eid and company continued to dish out hunks of the massive pile of meat until late into the night.

Kontides estimated that more than 10,000 people attended the event during the day, milling about to gape at the behemoth skewer, if not to partake in it.

It appears that banquet proceeds fell well within the expectations of Limassol Rotary Club president Panicos Loizou, who told the Mail on Friday that he expected to earn between £5,000 and £10,000 for local charities.

Although Eid was still unsure of exact figures yesterday afternoon, he thought that about 6,500 of the £1 food tickets were sold, and drinks, which were donated free of charge, would have brought even more.