Chaurma

1. 1Spiced grilled/roasted meat as the filling
2. 2Served in a sesame-topped bread roll, not flatbread wrap alone
3. 3Dressed with raw onion and harissa (chili paste)
4. 4A handheld street-food sandwich eaten on the go
5. 5Distinctly Mauritanian in seasoning and bread, within the shawarma family

Marinating in warm spices

Builds the deep, aromatic flavour that distinguishes it from plain grilled meat

Grilling/roasting the meat

Char and rendered fat give the smoky savour central to the sandwich

Served

as a filled roll, wrapped for hand-eating

Temperature

hot

Portion

one sandwich per person

Pairs with

fries · soft drinks · mint tea

• harissa → another chili sauceadmissible

  Changes the profile but keeps the spicy character

• sesame roll → plain sandwich breadadmissible

  Acceptable but the sesame roll is part of the Mauritanian identity

• spiced grilled meat → unseasoned boiled meatinadmissible

  Without the spice marinade and grill char it is no longer chaurma

• Under-seasoning the meat so it tastes like plain grilled protein
• Skipping the harissa and onion that define the dressing
• Over-grilling the meat to dryness
• Using a bland bun instead of the sesame roll

A settled Mauritanian street sandwich, a local adaptation of Levantine/Maghrebi shawarma using a sesame roll, onion and harissa.

1. 1.Mauritanian urban street-food tradition

Confidence: medium