The Shish Tawook Marinade, and Why Yogurt Does the Work

The shish tawook marinade is yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, oil and warm spices, and it does two separate jobs: it tenderises the chicken and it creates the surface that chars on the grill. Get the balance wrong in either direction and you get either bland chicken or chicken with a chalky, broken texture.

Almost everything written about this marinade is a list. What follows is what each part is actually doing, because once you know that you can fix your own version rather than following someone else's.

Why yogurt and not just lemon?

Because acid alone toughens meat past a certain point, and yogurt is a much gentler acid than lemon juice.

Lemon juice sits around pH 2. Yogurt sits around pH 4.5, which is acidic enough to loosen the protein structure but far from strong enough to seize it. Yogurt also contains calcium, which activates enzymes in the meat that break down protein, and that is a different mechanism from acid denaturation entirely.

The practical consequence: a yogurt marinade can be left on for twelve hours. A straight lemon marinade at the same strength would leave you with the texture of cooked ceviche in about three.

The second job is the coating. Yogurt clings where a thin liquid runs off, and the milk solids and lactose in it brown on the grill. That is where the golden, patchy, slightly blistered surface of good shish tawook comes from.

Use full-fat, and do not use Greek

Full-fat plain yogurt is the right choice. The fat carries the fat-soluble spice compounds, which is the difference between the cinnamon and allspice being tasted and merely being present.

Greek yogurt is strained, so it is thicker and lower in whey. It makes a paste that sits on the chicken in clumps rather than a coating that flows around it, and the clumps burn before the meat cooks. If Greek is all you have, thin it with a tablespoon or two of water or milk until it drops from the spoon.

What each ingredient is for

• Yogurt. Tenderiser, coating, browning agent. The base.
• Lemon juice. Brightness and a second acid. Enough to taste, not enough to dominate.
• Garlic. The dominant savoury note. Crush it to a paste with salt rather than chopping it, because chopped pieces stay raw and harsh in a twelve minute cook.
• Oil. Carries fat-soluble aromatics and stops the meat welding to the grill bars.
• Tomato paste. Colour and a little umami. This is why authentic shish tawook is faintly orange rather than white.
• Mustard. An emulsifier more than a flavour. It stops the marinade splitting into a watery layer and an oily one.
• Paprika. Colour first, sweetness second.
• Cinnamon and allspice. The warmth that makes it read as Levantine rather than generic grilled chicken. Small quantities.
• Salt. Seasons, and helps the marinade penetrate rather than only coat.

The ratio

For 900 g of chicken:

• 240 ml full-fat plain yogurt
• 80 ml lemon juice
• 60 ml neutral oil
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed with the salt
• 1.5 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 0.75 teaspoon onion powder
• 0.5 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and allspice
• 0.5 teaspoon dried oregano
• 0.25 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon salt, 0.25 teaspoon black pepper