Serve Secure with a Skewer

We are all familiar with the adornment to our cocktail, the stick of culinary delights served at a party, savoury or sweet, kebab of meat, or strawberries to dip in melted chocolate, or the cooking utensil so useful at barbecue time. The versatility of the humble skewer - in terms of both design and function - should not be underestimated, but what are the origins?

Prehistoric use of skewers was discovered at a 300,000-year-old site in Schöningen, Germany where a stick with a burnt tip was found to have been used to cook meat over a fire – perhaps the original inspiration for toasting marshmallows over the campfire!

Tales are often told of medieval Middle Eastern soldiers cooking meat skewered on their swords (QAR’s Teppo Gushi gun shaped skewers are a nod to this). This was an early form of kebab and in fact the word ‘shish’, now associated with kebabs, was historically defined as ‘skewer’.

Well known international versions of kebabs include: Turkish shish kebab, Iranian jujeh kabab, Chinese chuan, Japanese kushiyaki and yakitori, and Southeast Asian satay, although English speakers tend to use the word ‘kebab’ to refer to any food on a skewer – be it meat, cheese cubes and pickled onions, or exotic fruits!

Although kebabs are probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of skewers, they can be used for so much more – the list is endless, as is the variety of styles of skewer available. Here at QAR, just some of our most popular include the Teppo Gushi, the Musubi Looped and the Black Willow - Kuromoji. The Japanese names are not mere coincidence - Japan has a long history of cooking and grilling meat over charcoal, and from harpooning to eating meat from a skewer, dating back to the 17^th century.

Toffee apples, cocktail cherries, fried potatoes, mini caprese or Greek salads, the subject of what to cook or serve secured on a skewer has many books and internet pages devoted to it. What about this though – have you ever tried to use a skewer to squeeze a lemon?

A skewer is indeed all you need to juice a lemon - roll the lemon to soften it up, take the pointed end of the skewer and insert it a couple of inches into one end of the lemon, remove the skewer and start squeezing over a bowl – no cutting, no mess, no splatters – just juice!

Whether brightening up a display of canapes with a coloured ball skewer, adding texture with a musubi - looped skewer, sticking to tradition with the bamboo or tapered skewers, or elevating the presentation with the black willow – kuromoji, QAR has a skewer design and length for your needs – give us a call to discuss your specific requirements.

Order Teppo Gushi Skewers	Order Black Willow - Kuromoji Skewers
Order Musubi Looped Skewers	Order Ball Skewers
Order Coloured Ball Skewers	Order White Bamboo Skewers