Haligonian here. Confirming what other's said below, use evaporated milk instead of sweetened, and add sugar to taste. To top it off, make sure you're drunk for the next one!
When I saw the sandwich, I said to my friend "I'm sure the TPB fans will be in the comments." Then I watched the video, came here, saw this comment, and said to him "I TOADASO! I F---ING TOADASO!"
The size of the bowl was fine for this application, but he should have mixed the garlic powder into the vinegar before adding it to the condensed milk.
make the sauce with regular evaporated milk, garlic powder vinegar and sugar that you could dose yourself to your tasting, most donair shops use this method instead of sweet condensed milk
@@calumryan6328 For donairs, there's no such thing as restaurant quality :D The best donairs are served by sketchy pizza corner shops at 2am and they're loaded down with greasy runoff from the meat as well, and the sauce is almost set from the vinegar curdle.
For the actual taste, you will need to go to Nova Scotia. Hello, Nova Scotian here. Back in the 1970s, the spices, yogurt, and the other ingredients needed for the gyro and sauce recipe were hard to get here, a challenge to have a steady commercial volume supply. So his brother told me back in 1981. It wasn't that sales were slow or that the recipe was tweaked for local pallets but rather substitutions had to be made because of the reality of the supply chain of the time. At the very first, they just wanted to make the gyros for themselves as it was something they enjoyed back in the old country. To this day, I still have the handwritten recipe for the sauce in my recipe box. It really is the various unique meat and spice combos that truly make the experience and sets each apart from the others. They were made with a lamb and beef combo in the recipe used by the first original generation of donair makers. It was kinda hard for me to get used to donairs without lamb. Fun fact, the Canadian government had to create Federal Donair Standards to rein-in the practice and problems of serving undercooked shaved meat.
I'm from Halifax, and the sweetness is the point. Some people around here also add grated mozarella cheese to their donair I've never seen any Canadian add a pickle to a donair (though I wouldn't be shocked) Some regional variations are; New Brunswick: some people add lettuce, Alberta: they add cheese and pepperoni Speaking of which, in Halifax we also make donair pizza and we even put the donair meat in eggroll wrappers and deep fry them then use the donair sauce as a dip (it's also a great dip for garlic fingers) We also have a hunting culture here so I've seen guys make donair with venison, but we call that deernair
Tolerating the addition of cheese is a relatively new chapter in the history of Donairs 😅 In the genesis days of the donair, Pizza Delight tried to compete by creating their wrap called a Hopper that included cheese, pepperoni, and salami. It was also around that time, that their location in Lower Sackville caught the Blackburn building on fire...
somehow deernair would take it from "oh cool i'd try it" to "yea i gotta have it" for me. especially since it's using ground meat it gives an opportunity to blend pork/whatever fat into venison pretty seemlessly without feeling like i'm wasting some of the better game meat out there on "just" a burger or chili or something. i'm from land of invasive tropical reptiles so the halifax aspects of this are ~exotic~ enough to me and i'm imagining it'd still taste like venison with just the seasoning and simple sauce, rather than having it get lost in a big production.
@@ViewtifulGene The gyro place nearby in college would put so much meat in there that many students would order an extra pita bread for 0.50 and make two sandwiches out of it.
Years ago my now-wife, then-girlfriend and I took a trip to Calgary. We stayed for 2 weeks and being from the southwest US (please never order "Mexican" food in Alberta), we were struggling to find food that we liked. Took a chance at a place called Jimmy's A&A that served donair. I loved it. Loved it so much, I had the caterer we hired recreate donair to serve at our wedding.
Cheers from Nova Scotia. These are definitely a staple here in the province. I ordered one last night from our local pizza shop, and if you go to Halifax on the weekend, people are lined up at all hours of the night to buy these things. They are definitely the official food of Halifax
You need alot more meat in there. Should be stuffed to overflowing that way the sweetness of the sauce is lessened because that dilicous meat is more present. You could also add a bit more vinegar and garlic powder to the sauce. All that being said they first time I had donair I felt the same about the sauce, it is an aquired taste that really grows on you over time. Its also great with garlic fingers another halifax staple.
I make Donairs regularly! To reduce the sweetness, use evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk and add sugar to taste (and, of course, garlic and vinegar, too). Also, an assortment of fresh veggies (peppers, shredded lettuce, cucumbers etc...) can be added in addition to the tomatoes and onions. Feta and other cheeses are optional plus-ups!
My donairs have always had shredded lettuce, cucumber, and more meat than what went in to this. Definitely looks like it needed more garlic in the sauce. It should be a savoury sweet sauce, and that looked just sweet; which is why it was too sweet for Barry. Minor adjustments would go a long way here
@@III_SLEEP_III-Daevicus Agreed! Lots of garlic and more vinegar. Sometimes I toss the ground beef (or ground lamb or a combination) into the food processor before rolling it in foil.
Ground lamb was part of the originator's meat recipe, and I really miss it's flavour contribution. Pizza Delight made a veggie, cheese, and meat wrap called a Hopper to compete with the donair back in the 1970s...(maybe early 80s.?)
I lived in the HRM for about 12 years, the Halifax donair is more of a meat salad than a sandwich. The spicy meat and sweet sauce is a marage made in heaven, loaded with tomatoes and onions and it's the best lunch you can have. The best part is going back to work stinking of raw onions and sweet meat, I'm going to have one at work tomorrow...
The sauce is an acquired taste. I went to college in Cape Breton and it took me a hot minute to get used to donair sauce with pizza but after I moved away, and still to this day, its one of the things I miss the most. Of course I never realized how easy it was to make until now
Needs more meat, it's supposed to be packet full, that's why the sauce is feeling too much for you. If you get it to eat in, they'd leave it open, and pack on more meat than could be rolled in the pita. (at least where I used to go did) I'd recommend serving it like that, then rolling it up when you've eaten enough of the meat to do so. Also, the pita would be cooked on the commercial griddle they were crisping the meat on, so I don't know how you'd replicate that. Also also, cheese is an optional topping, I don't care who says that's "inauthentic". (pizza cheese, presumably)
TIP: for the sauce mix the dry ingredients with the evaporated milk then slowly add in the vinegar in while stirring until it begins to thicken then set it aside. Yes you are correct you are supposed to only drizzle the sauce on lightly. As well for the Pita it's best if you fry your meat in the pan then take your pita, give it a quick/very fast dip in cold water and then plop the pita on top of the simmering donair meat... heat it all up then scoop the meat and pita up and flip onto your foil... top it to taste. Most shops go pretty heavy with the onion and tomato.. but any classic Gyro style toppings work great
You can use regular condensed milk for the sauce and just add a smaller amount of sugar. I love both pickles and donairs, call me a purist but I'd never in a million years add a pickle to a donair lol
So glad you tried this one! I saved a copy of a recipe for Donair Dip years ago, but I've never had the nerve to try it. Glad to have found a bit more information on its origins.Thanks!
Like others have said, use regular evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk. Then you can control the sweetness with sugar, or better yet, a simple syrup as it combines easier without leaving any sugar grains behind. Also, try fresh garlic instead of garlic powder, and add some parsley and/or chives. Might help to adjust your ratio of vinegar as well, to your desired taste. The sauce should be quite tangy, with a bit of heat from the garlic, freshness from the parsley, creaminess from the milk, and somewhat sweet, but not excessively so. I'm from Nova Scotia, and this is what I use for my donair sauce.
I spent a couple of years in Halifax as a kid. I've missed that sauce so much in the 20 years since, it's harder to come by on the West coast! One local pizza place makes donair sauce, though, they knock it out of the park.
I'm a sweet sauce guy. Around these parts it's sweet sauce or garlic sauce. You can also add some white cheese slices. Bread & butter pickles are really good on there. Some places add shredded lettuce. Real ones know you also get fries and let the donair drip all over them! Donairs are sort of a touchy subject. Here in Edmonton, Alberta, EVERY resident says the best donairs come from "______" and everyone else's are crap, and "______" is always somewhere different. People will fight you over it. At a former workplace about 8-10 of us would go to Urban Bite on 156 St every Friday, the owner knew all our orders lol!
@@ShopKatIndustries At a donair shop near the U of A that has since closed, a lovely Lebanese family ran it and gave me the best bit of advice - to get half sweet, and half garlic sauce. Have never looked back, I love that combo.
I had a gyros wrap in Brussels that was topped with shredded green cabbage. I thought it was delicious. Maybe that might work here with that sweet sauce, turn it into kind of like a cole slaw.
My mom, who started eating these in her University days back when they first started serving them in the 70's, always says that the quitessential donair experience is that the first time you eat one--- always after midnight, and always tipsy--- you think you'll never want one again, and the next morning, you can't stop thinking about how much you want another one. I think your sauce issue is actually a ratio problem. A small donair should be more than you can eat in one sitting and mostly meat. The onions should also be cheap enough to pack a punch and leave you tasting them well after the hangover dissipates the next day; their usually there to do what your added pickle is.
I could have sworn up and down you had already done a Canadian donair sort of sandwich, and now I cannot for the life of me find it. So weird - really feels like déjà vu! Anyway. Still looks as good as the first time I thought I had seen it, lol.
I first heard of this 'sandwich' on The Trailer Park Boys back in the 00s and given that I love gyros I've been curious ever since. I think I'll try it.
Thanks Barry, I have a new way to make döner meat without compressing, freezing, and shaving off bits of meat. Your method is such a great way to make it at home. I’ll stick with my standard yogurt garlic sauce with it, but the meat looks awesome.
Re: sweetened condensed milk. I came across a 1930s recipe for mayonnaise by the Borden/Eagle Brand company. It uses sweetened condensed milk, vinegar, oil, powdered mustard. I never had the guts to try it.😂
@@Ajb259 Good to know! Editing to add. I looked at the recipe. Based on the ingredients and their amounts, I would have thought it would be kind of like Miracle Whip.
@@AllanTidgwell They might have reprinted it in the 1970s. You can look up the 1930s book at the Sliker Little Cookbooks collection at Michigan State University's library site. 🙂
Looks good. Thanks for the representation. The Halifax donair is weird beast. People either love it or hate it, and it usually hinges on the sauce. Being a native Haligonian (a person hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), I've grown up with the sauce so I have no qualms with it... BUT I do think you are onto something with the pickles. I think more veg in there would work wonders. I've ben thinking of sautéed red onion, red pepper. Others have I hang around with it topped like a gyro. Some people have added pickled beets. Either way, a donair is worth a try.
Yeah, they sell donairs all over Canada, the sauce always baffled me but people love it. Most donairs places offer alternatives like tzatziki or savoury garlic sauce, which I opt for.
@@negljbreakergaming Never have been, not really interested. Maritimers have long gone to Alberta for work, so the profusion of donair shops is not surprising.
Glad you added the dill pickle 👍 I don’t use sweetened condensed milk, I usually just make a coleslaw type dressing and add garlic and garlic powder + sugar to taste
So I was born in Halifax and still live in the maritimes of Canada and the thing is with Halifax style donair sauce is everyone likes theirs differently, some like it very sweet and others more garlicky but I just wanted to say when you go to eat it again plus it up with a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese! It makes it so yummy, I also add a touch of tabasco to mine as well every now and then. Loved the video, thanks for showing off our beloved food!
I did that twice and the first time the sweet sauce was just too much for me so I switched to an Israeli sesame/garlic/lemon sauce and was a whole lot happier.
Your donair sauce was too sweet because you didnt use enougg vinegar or garlic powder. 1 can of eagle brand (or whatever sweetened condensed milk), refill can halfway with vinegar and about 5x as much garlic powder as you used
The sweet condensed milk is strange. I would rather use a sour cream, yogurt, cream cheese, or mayo. Maybe I would try and create a quick cheese or a ranch sauce with the sweet cream.
You can easily improve the sauce, what it needed is fresh garlic instead of the garlic powder, and also a few drops more vinegar, or what my husband and I like to add is some sour cream or plain yogurt. The classic recipe calls for fresh garlic, and that small detail makes a big difference.
The sauce is the similar to an old fashioned kind of salad dressing here in New Zealand. (Ours had more mustard powder, and it would go on a lettuce and tomato salad)
Halifax here. I've eaten plenty of donairs and can assure you the sauce is made with regular condensed milk and NOT the sweetened stuff. It's close to a creamy coleslaw dressing.
when I went to the Netherlands last, I had this wrap called a Doner. It wasn't that much like a donair, but it was really good. I wonder if the two are variations on each other
that sauce is also good for dipping garlic fingers in. they arent the same as a garlic bread stick/. basically pizza crust covered in garlic butter along with mozza and bacon bits. cut into strips. serve
Tzatziki sauce is hard to beat, but I'm open to new ideas. Though I might also try making adjustments to this one, after tasting the original for myself.
In addition to the tomatoes and onions, try hot peppers, just the standard hot pickled pepper rings, plus some shredded cheddar. That was always a standard combo and the four toppings offset the sweetness of the sauce.
Recommendation - use evaporated milk and add sugar to taste. You can choose your sweetness level that way. And pro tip - if you only stir 3-4 times to combine, the sauce comes out much fluffier. Enjoy!
Do traditional donairs use that sauce? Sounds horrible for an otherwise savory food. I don't recall the donairs Toronto having anything other than a savory sauce
As a haligonian you need more meat to balance out the sauce. The plus up we usually do is mozza cheese. Adding additional veg is usually frowned upon but I can see pickle being pretty nice
In Canada, the Halifax Donair weirdly migrated to Alberta and skipped all the other provinces, where they generally have gyros and shawarma instead of donairs. Donairs are the best!
Regional variations exist out there. Edmonton style adds shredded ice burg and white sub sandwich cheese. And if you think that sauce is sweet the shop I worked at added honey to the sauce.
Never really got into donairs... but an order of Garlic Fingers was *mandatory* when getting pizza delivery in college in New Brunswick, dipping in donair sauce.
I hope one day Barry will pronounce the "Döner" correct :D . Actually you can use the Donair for that too because Donesh feels like a Hungarian dish name :D . Aside from that nice and simple sandwich, though if anyone do not mind to wait overnight for the spices to blend in.
Be wise, no pickles and change the sauce to regular canned milk. Here in Nova Scotia they also lightly steam the pita bread before adding the meat etc. also add some cereal say smashed fine corn flake or Rice Krispies to the meat mixture , it’ll thicken up the consistency and take away the purred meat texture
Donair are a big thing all over Atlantic Canada.... donair shops all over the place. and you need more meat in it...... some places make donairs the size of a football.... lol.... great hangover food!! 😀
It's so hard to find a good donair outside Halifax! The sauce shouldn't be too sweet, but I'm not sure exactly what the magic is. Also recommend adding pickled turnips, beets, or cabbage.
as an american, i would love to try donair ( i understand you can get it on a pizza in canadian dominoes) but part of me feels like i'm gonna just wish i was eating a gyro or a falafel pita as a sweet sauce with those other ingredients makes me skeptical. meat/sandwich looks great though nice work boss
You need to double up on the meat and veggies for a proper donair to get the right ratio, you had way too much sauce compared to everything else. 1/4lb of meat is the smallest you will get if you order a donair. Also, alot of places up here on the east coast use pizza dough instead of a pita for their donairs, fluffier and softer.
I'd say adding lamb brings it to a whole new level, also I'd beat it even more than 5 minutes or try to go a higher setting without letting any meat fly out.
i'm from the east cost, no cardamom in the meat. but good on you for not adding cheese or lettuce. though cheese is debated. also, the sauce is an institution where i'm from.
the classic plus-up is french fries. And the original sauce isn't made with sweetened condensed milk, but with evaporated milk and sugar, so it's not that sickly sweet, and looks more like heavy cream.
Canadians would also know the famed Halifax chain King of Donair from Trailer Park Boys, where Randy frequently engages in prostitution in exchange for donair and cheeseburgers. A man’s gotta eat.
Born and raised in Nova Scotia, and I love everything about donairs EXCEPT for that sauce! But people are weird about it - when I asked for one without it, I was told I wasn't a "real Nova Scotian" because I didn't want that sickly sweet crap all over my otherwise perfect meal. So I found the easiest thing to do to avoid this sandwich-based harassment is just ask for it "on the side" in a container, and then just throw it in the trash where it belongs. Even better if you can swap it in for something else a lot less sweet and bit more spicy. Pretty much everywhere else in the world that has adopted and made some variation of the doner kebab gets the sauce right.
Haligonian here. Confirming what other's said below, use evaporated milk instead of sweetened, and add sugar to taste. To top it off, make sure you're drunk for the next one!
“We’re gonna get drunk, we’re gonna eat donairs tonight! And I plan on getting drunk as f-- tonight! Drunk as f--!”
Easy Ricky
Whenever you stop by king of donair, don't forget to give the shirtless man hanging out up front in a cowboy hat some cheeseburger money.
When I saw the sandwich, I said to my friend "I'm sure the TPB fans will be in the comments." Then I watched the video, came here, saw this comment, and said to him "I TOADASO! I F---ING TOADASO!"
Drunk on swish, dancing around with a dirty old dog, eatin pizza crusts off the f-ing ground. Made me sad.
@@utterlyuselesscommentbelow8101 a man’s gotta eat…
Barry I am begging you to use a bowl twice as big as you think you'll need
Ha, ha!! The bowl size drives me crazy too.
This is a solid observation XD I had a nightmare about clumps of dry garlic powder.
Hectic isn’t it?
The size of the bowl was fine for this application, but he should have mixed the garlic powder into the vinegar before adding it to the condensed milk.
Great comment 😂
make the sauce with regular evaporated milk, garlic powder vinegar and sugar that you could dose yourself to your tasting, most donair shops use this method instead of sweet condensed milk
I’ve heard this is the trick to make it restaurant quality
@@calumryan6328 For donairs, there's no such thing as restaurant quality :D The best donairs are served by sketchy pizza corner shops at 2am and they're loaded down with greasy runoff from the meat as well, and the sauce is almost set from the vinegar curdle.
@@alain99v6 and i imagine a corn starch slurry, since what you descrived sounds really thin
Came here to say this. Evaporated milk, not condensed
and the sauce is what makes it a Halifax donair...
As a Haligonian i have to say that a donair has about two to three times the meat that you put in and the fire of the spicy meat covers the Sweet.
"Don't miss out on deliciousness by being nitpicky". Truer words were never spoken!
For the actual taste, you will need to go to Nova Scotia. Hello, Nova Scotian here. Back in the 1970s, the spices, yogurt, and the other ingredients needed for the gyro and sauce recipe were hard to get here, a challenge to have a steady commercial volume supply. So his brother told me back in 1981. It wasn't that sales were slow or that the recipe was tweaked for local pallets but rather substitutions had to be made because of the reality of the supply chain of the time. At the very first, they just wanted to make the gyros for themselves as it was something they enjoyed back in the old country. To this day, I still have the handwritten recipe for the sauce in my recipe box. It really is the various unique meat and spice combos that truly make the experience and sets each apart from the others. They were made with a lamb and beef combo in the recipe used by the first original generation of donair makers. It was kinda hard for me to get used to donairs without lamb. Fun fact, the Canadian government had to create Federal Donair Standards to rein-in the practice and problems of serving undercooked shaved meat.
I'm from Halifax, and the sweetness is the point. Some people around here also add grated mozarella cheese to their donair
I've never seen any Canadian add a pickle to a donair (though I wouldn't be shocked)
Some regional variations are; New Brunswick: some people add lettuce, Alberta: they add cheese and pepperoni
Speaking of which, in Halifax we also make donair pizza and we even put the donair meat in eggroll wrappers and deep fry them then use the donair sauce as a dip (it's also a great dip for garlic fingers)
We also have a hunting culture here so I've seen guys make donair with venison, but we call that deernair
Tolerating the addition of cheese is a relatively new chapter in the history of Donairs 😅 In the genesis days of the donair, Pizza Delight tried to compete by creating their wrap called a Hopper that included cheese, pepperoni, and salami. It was also around that time, that their location in Lower Sackville caught the Blackburn building on fire...
somehow deernair would take it from "oh cool i'd try it" to "yea i gotta have it" for me. especially since it's using ground meat it gives an opportunity to blend pork/whatever fat into venison pretty seemlessly without feeling like i'm wasting some of the better game meat out there on "just" a burger or chili or something. i'm from land of invasive tropical reptiles so the halifax aspects of this are ~exotic~ enough to me and i'm imagining it'd still taste like venison with just the seasoning and simple sauce, rather than having it get lost in a big production.
I think the most obvious plus-up for this is MORE MEAT. Every gyro and shawarma I've had came with enough meat to break the pita.
Yeah, you really got to load that thing up with ingredients.
Yeah a real donair should have so much on it you can't actually wrap it up and eat it with your hands
@FKATorp that's what I said, but yeah.
@@ViewtifulGene The gyro place nearby in college would put so much meat in there that many students would order an extra pita bread for 0.50 and make two sandwiches out of it.
That's common practice here in Halifax
Years ago my now-wife, then-girlfriend and I took a trip to Calgary. We stayed for 2 weeks and being from the southwest US (please never order "Mexican" food in Alberta), we were struggling to find food that we liked. Took a chance at a place called Jimmy's A&A that served donair. I loved it. Loved it so much, I had the caterer we hired recreate donair to serve at our wedding.
Cheers from Nova Scotia. These are definitely a staple here in the province. I ordered one last night from our local pizza shop, and if you go to Halifax on the weekend, people are lined up at all hours of the night to buy these things. They are definitely the official food of Halifax
You need alot more meat in there. Should be stuffed to overflowing that way the sweetness of the sauce is lessened because that dilicous meat is more present. You could also add a bit more vinegar and garlic powder to the sauce. All that being said they first time I had donair I felt the same about the sauce, it is an aquired taste that really grows on you over time. Its also great with garlic fingers another halifax staple.
Absolutely correct
I make Donairs regularly! To reduce the sweetness, use evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk and add sugar to taste (and, of course, garlic and vinegar, too). Also, an assortment of fresh veggies (peppers, shredded lettuce, cucumbers etc...) can be added in addition to the tomatoes and onions. Feta and other cheeses are optional plus-ups!
My donairs have always had shredded lettuce, cucumber, and more meat than what went in to this. Definitely looks like it needed more garlic in the sauce. It should be a savoury sweet sauce, and that looked just sweet; which is why it was too sweet for Barry. Minor adjustments would go a long way here
@@III_SLEEP_III-Daevicus Agreed! Lots of garlic and more vinegar. Sometimes I toss the ground beef (or ground lamb or a combination) into the food processor before rolling it in foil.
Ground lamb was part of the originator's meat recipe, and I really miss it's flavour contribution. Pizza Delight made a veggie, cheese, and meat wrap called a Hopper to compete with the donair back in the 1970s...(maybe early 80s.?)
I lived in the HRM for about 12 years, the Halifax donair is more of a meat salad than a sandwich. The spicy meat and sweet sauce is a marage made in heaven, loaded with tomatoes and onions and it's the best lunch you can have. The best part is going back to work stinking of raw onions and sweet meat, I'm going to have one at work tomorrow...
Haligonian here - I always go light on the sauce or sauce on the side. Sometimes you can get a lamb donair or even venison.
Gotta love a good deernair
This looks like a very cost-friendly thing to make for lunches during the week, I’m gonna try this soon. Thank you for your service, dude
The sauce is an acquired taste. I went to college in Cape Breton and it took me a hot minute to get used to donair sauce with pizza but after I moved away, and still to this day, its one of the things I miss the most.
Of course I never realized how easy it was to make until now
Needs more meat, it's supposed to be packet full, that's why the sauce is feeling too much for you. If you get it to eat in, they'd leave it open, and pack on more meat than could be rolled in the pita. (at least where I used to go did) I'd recommend serving it like that, then rolling it up when you've eaten enough of the meat to do so. Also, the pita would be cooked on the commercial griddle they were crisping the meat on, so I don't know how you'd replicate that. Also also, cheese is an optional topping, I don't care who says that's "inauthentic". (pizza cheese, presumably)
TIP: for the sauce mix the dry ingredients with the evaporated milk then slowly add in the vinegar in while stirring until it begins to thicken then set it aside. Yes you are correct you are supposed to only drizzle the sauce on lightly. As well for the Pita it's best if you fry your meat in the pan then take your pita, give it a quick/very fast dip in cold water and then plop the pita on top of the simmering donair meat... heat it all up then scoop the meat and pita up and flip onto your foil... top it to taste. Most shops go pretty heavy with the onion and tomato.. but any classic Gyro style toppings work great
I love it when he says "A-Go!" It's perfectly catchy.
Seems to be his little catchphrase,he’s definitely leaned in to it more since he started the channel
You can use regular condensed milk for the sauce and just add a smaller amount of sugar. I love both pickles and donairs, call me a purist but I'd never in a million years add a pickle to a donair lol
So glad you tried this one! I saved a copy of a recipe for Donair Dip years ago, but I've never had the nerve to try it. Glad to have found a bit more information on its origins.Thanks!
Like others have said, use regular evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk. Then you can control the sweetness with sugar, or better yet, a simple syrup as it combines easier without leaving any sugar grains behind. Also, try fresh garlic instead of garlic powder, and add some parsley and/or chives. Might help to adjust your ratio of vinegar as well, to your desired taste. The sauce should be quite tangy, with a bit of heat from the garlic, freshness from the parsley, creaminess from the milk, and somewhat sweet, but not excessively so. I'm from Nova Scotia, and this is what I use for my donair sauce.
east coast donair sauce is a whole thing. we get it with our pizza and garlic fingers. it's an acquired taste for some and a taste of home for others
tell them how the stuff in the store always sucks too
I spent a couple of years in Halifax as a kid. I've missed that sauce so much in the 20 years since, it's harder to come by on the West coast! One local pizza place makes donair sauce, though, they knock it out of the park.
I'm a sweet sauce guy. Around these parts it's sweet sauce or garlic sauce. You can also add some white cheese slices. Bread & butter pickles are really good on there. Some places add shredded lettuce.
Real ones know you also get fries and let the donair drip all over them!
Donairs are sort of a touchy subject. Here in Edmonton, Alberta, EVERY resident says the best donairs come from "______" and everyone else's are crap, and "______" is always somewhere different. People will fight you over it. At a former workplace about 8-10 of us would go to Urban Bite on 156 St every Friday, the owner knew all our orders lol!
@@ShopKatIndustries At a donair shop near the U of A that has since closed, a lovely Lebanese family ran it and gave me the best bit of advice - to get half sweet, and half garlic sauce. Have never looked back, I love that combo.
@@incensejunkie7516 I'll have to give it a try!
The best donairs come from King of Donair in Halifax... because they're the original
I had a gyros wrap in Brussels that was topped with shredded green cabbage. I thought it was delicious. Maybe that might work here with that sweet sauce, turn it into kind of like a cole slaw.
My mom, who started eating these in her University days back when they first started serving them in the 70's, always says that the quitessential donair experience is that the first time you eat one--- always after midnight, and always tipsy--- you think you'll never want one again, and the next morning, you can't stop thinking about how much you want another one.
I think your sauce issue is actually a ratio problem. A small donair should be more than you can eat in one sitting and mostly meat. The onions should also be cheap enough to pack a punch and leave you tasting them well after the hangover dissipates the next day; their usually there to do what your added pickle is.
I could have sworn up and down you had already done a Canadian donair sort of sandwich, and now I cannot for the life of me find it. So weird - really feels like déjà vu! Anyway. Still looks as good as the first time I thought I had seen it, lol.
I first heard of this 'sandwich' on The Trailer Park Boys back in the 00s and given that I love gyros I've been curious ever since. I think I'll try it.
Can confirm Donairs slap. If you're looking for ways to use up the meat, put it on a pizza. Killer!
Can't help but think if the tomatoes were more on the red and ripe side the sandwich would taste better. Great Channel!
Thanks Barry, I have a new way to make döner meat without compressing, freezing, and shaving off bits of meat. Your method is such a great way to make it at home. I’ll stick with my standard yogurt garlic sauce with it, but the meat looks awesome.
Re: sweetened condensed milk. I came across a 1930s recipe for mayonnaise by the Borden/Eagle Brand company. It uses sweetened condensed milk, vinegar, oil, powdered mustard. I never had the guts to try it.😂
@@maggiep3263 B. Dylan Hollis tried this. It was not nice.
@@Ajb259 Good to know! Editing to add. I looked at the recipe. Based on the ingredients and their amounts, I would have thought it would be kind of like Miracle Whip.
It's a 1970s recipe actually
@@AllanTidgwell They might have reprinted it in the 1970s. You can look up the 1930s book at the Sliker Little Cookbooks collection at Michigan State University's library site. 🙂
@@maggiep3263 not having tried it myself I can’t say, but Dylan’s verdict was “tastes like sunscreen” which made me laugh so hard I still remember it.
Looks good. Thanks for the representation. The Halifax donair is weird beast. People either love it or hate it, and it usually hinges on the sauce. Being a native Haligonian (a person hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), I've grown up with the sauce so I have no qualms with it... BUT I do think you are onto something with the pickles. I think more veg in there would work wonders.
I've ben thinking of sautéed red onion, red pepper. Others have I hang around with it topped like a gyro. Some people have added pickled beets. Either way, a donair is worth a try.
Yeah, they sell donairs all over Canada, the sauce always baffled me but people love it. Most donairs places offer alternatives like tzatziki or savoury garlic sauce, which I opt for.
AFAIK they're mainly a Maritime thing; pretty scarce elsewhere.
Donairs with the garlic sauce was my jam through university. It helped that there was a place just off campus that had them cheap at ridiculous hours.
@@Desmaad have you been to Edmonton?? They are not scarce in the west just because they're from the east
@@negljbreakergaming Never have been, not really interested. Maritimers have long gone to Alberta for work, so the profusion of donair shops is not surprising.
@@Desmaadthat's precisely the reason
Glad you added the dill pickle 👍 I don’t use sweetened condensed milk, I usually just make a coleslaw type dressing and add garlic and garlic powder + sugar to taste
So I was born in Halifax and still live in the maritimes of Canada and the thing is with Halifax style donair sauce is everyone likes theirs differently, some like it very sweet and others more garlicky but I just wanted to say when you go to eat it again plus it up with a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese! It makes it so yummy, I also add a touch of tabasco to mine as well every now and then.
Loved the video, thanks for showing off our beloved food!
I am praying that you meant Tabasco
@@Burppo lmao damn auto correct
I edited that thanks
I highly recommend trying Matty Matheson’s recipe instead. The sauce is less sweet and more runny. Out of this world good!
@@joejames3461 matty matheson’s recipe is incredible.
I did that twice and the first time the sweet sauce was just too much for me so I switched to an Israeli sesame/garlic/lemon sauce and was a whole lot happier.
Trailer Park Boys approved
HELL YAH HALIFAX. been watching your videos for a while now didnt expect this!
Your donair sauce was too sweet because you didnt use enougg vinegar or garlic powder. 1 can of eagle brand (or whatever sweetened condensed milk), refill can halfway with vinegar and about 5x as much garlic powder as you used
@@JOBdOut nope, that's way too much garlic powder.
@@Tinkering902 if you are either afraid of flavour or prefer your meat to taste like candy perhaps
The real beauty of Nova Scotia is the fresh seafood but donairs are also good
The Gyro is a regional favorite in Chicagoland. Doner can be found, too, though one has to go looking a bit.
If you don’t mind the extra calories from bread, try an oven roasted Donair sub. It will change your life.
That sauce is rad. i been meaning to make it for years now.
Looks good . Thanks Barry.👍👍
The sweet condensed milk is strange. I would rather use a sour cream, yogurt, cream cheese, or mayo. Maybe I would try and create a quick cheese or a ranch sauce with the sweet cream.
Captain Obvious reporting for duty: Donair is a Halifaxed-up version of "Doner" (doner kebab), kind of like gyros, kind of different.
That's literally what was said in the video. But the guy who invented it was Greek so started with the gyro
You can easily improve the sauce, what it needed is fresh garlic instead of the garlic powder, and also a few drops more vinegar, or what my husband and I like to add is some sour cream or plain yogurt. The classic recipe calls for fresh garlic, and that small detail makes a big difference.
The sauce is the similar to an old fashioned kind of salad dressing here in New Zealand. (Ours had more mustard powder, and it would go on a lettuce and tomato salad)
Halifax here. I've eaten plenty of donairs and can assure you the sauce is made with regular condensed milk and NOT the sweetened stuff. It's close to a creamy coleslaw dressing.
I gotta try a real Halifax donair in Halifax one day. Every time I've tried it here in Ontario, it's with the sweet sauce.
That sounds so much better! In fact, some crunchy slaw right on top sounds pretty awesome, I put it on burgers sometimes
@@kutter_ttl6786 Tony's @ Robie + Cunard is the GOAT
when I went to the Netherlands last, I had this wrap called a Doner. It wasn't that much like a donair, but it was really good.
I wonder if the two are variations on each other
that sauce is also good for dipping garlic fingers in. they arent the same as a garlic bread stick/. basically pizza crust covered in garlic butter along with mozza and bacon bits. cut into strips. serve
Tzatziki sauce is hard to beat, but I'm open to new ideas. Though I might also try making adjustments to this one, after tasting the original for myself.
In addition to the tomatoes and onions, try hot peppers, just the standard hot pickled pepper rings, plus some shredded cheddar. That was always a standard combo and the four toppings offset the sweetness of the sauce.
A lot of donair shops in Canada serve donairs with tzatziki or garlic sauce instead of the traditional donair sauce.
Recommendation - use evaporated milk and add sugar to taste. You can choose your sweetness level that way. And pro tip - if you only stir 3-4 times to combine, the sauce comes out much fluffier. Enjoy!
Do traditional donairs use that sauce? Sounds horrible for an otherwise savory food. I don't recall the donairs Toronto having anything other than a savory sauce
As a haligonian you need more meat to balance out the sauce. The plus up we usually do is mozza cheese. Adding additional veg is usually frowned upon but I can see pickle being pretty nice
In Canada, the Halifax Donair weirdly migrated to Alberta and skipped all the other provinces, where they generally have gyros and shawarma instead of donairs. Donairs are the best!
Next time. Use Saran wrap and wind the meat up from the ends. Then refrigerate til it firms up a little bit
Regional variations exist out there. Edmonton style adds shredded ice burg and white sub sandwich cheese. And if you think that sauce is sweet the shop I worked at added honey to the sauce.
Never really got into donairs... but an order of Garlic Fingers was *mandatory* when getting pizza delivery in college in New Brunswick, dipping in donair sauce.
I hope one day Barry will pronounce the "Döner" correct :D . Actually you can use the Donair for that too because Donesh feels like a Hungarian dish name :D . Aside from that nice and simple sandwich, though if anyone do not mind to wait overnight for the spices to blend in.
Be wise, no pickles and change the sauce to regular canned milk. Here in Nova Scotia they also lightly steam the pita bread before adding the meat etc. also add some cereal say smashed fine corn flake or Rice Krispies to the meat mixture , it’ll thicken up the consistency and take away the purred meat texture
Is it being held with bread or bread adjacent items? Thats good enough to be a sandwich for me.
Exactly
Interesting sauce. Here in NY it’s made like gyro sauce with a thick yogurt.
I am very confused as to what the the point of adding the skewers was?
What was the purpose of the skewers in the meat log. Was it for heat distribution?
What a great idea for a channel!
Can you post the recipe you used for the beef?
Donair are a big thing all over Atlantic Canada.... donair shops all over the place. and you need more meat in it...... some places make donairs the size of a football.... lol.... great hangover food!! 😀
Oooh, I might make this but use amba instead of that sauce. Meat looked fantastic.
It's so hard to find a good donair outside Halifax! The sauce shouldn't be too sweet, but I'm not sure exactly what the magic is. Also recommend adding pickled turnips, beets, or cabbage.
When I go to get a poutine, I often have the option to include donair meat. It's delicious.
Yeah Roberts donair in Dartmouth is amazing, biggest portions
I'm curious as to what the skewers did for the recipe. What were they for?
I always thought it was French for donut lmao! You know, Canada and all. 😂
Great food finally , I would use maple syrup an ketchup with ghirken pickles though 🙂
A pickle is a necessity for any sort of kebab sandwich, but I'd go with pickled turnips.
as an american, i would love to try donair ( i understand you can get it on a pizza in canadian dominoes) but part of me feels like i'm gonna just wish i was eating a gyro or a falafel pita as a sweet sauce with those other ingredients makes me skeptical. meat/sandwich looks great though nice work boss
You need to double up on the meat and veggies for a proper donair to get the right ratio, you had way too much sauce compared to everything else. 1/4lb of meat is the smallest you will get if you order a donair. Also, alot of places up here on the east coast use pizza dough instead of a pita for their donairs, fluffier and softer.
You missed a prime chance to say “pickley pop” 😢
I'd recommend raw cucumber instead of pickle. I like a mixture of sweet sauce and garlic sauce in the donair.
If you’re doing Canadian Sandwiches, you need to try the bologna sandwich from Wilensky's in Montreal.
Also you need to steam the pita you monster…
It seems like the sauce could be enhanced by either acid (sweet and sour) or hot sauce.
I'd say adding lamb brings it to a whole new level, also I'd beat it even more than 5 minutes or try to go a higher setting without letting any meat fly out.
i'm from the east cost, no cardamom in the meat. but good on you for not adding cheese or lettuce. though cheese is debated. also, the sauce is an institution where i'm from.
If a hotdog is considered as sandwich then a halifax donair most certainly is. Though I would call it a taco 😋
I would go full 3 AM MUNCHIES and plus up with lots of salty french fries
I don’t know if plussing up is enough I think making your own versions of them at the end
the classic plus-up is french fries. And the original sauce isn't made with sweetened condensed milk, but with evaporated milk and sugar, so it's not that sickly sweet, and looks more like heavy cream.
The sweetened condensed milk is what makes this odd. I like other sweet things with meat, though, so I'd probably like this, too.
This one looks great!
So what is the point of the skewers?
Canadians would also know the famed Halifax chain King of Donair from Trailer Park Boys, where Randy frequently engages in prostitution in exchange for donair and cheeseburgers.
A man’s gotta eat.
Freddie’s in Dieppe, NB - that’s a donair.
You gotta dampen that pita and throw it on a frying pan to steam it a bit, lots more meat, and wrap it up tight in foil for the flavours to mingle.
Born and raised in Nova Scotia, and I love everything about donairs EXCEPT for that sauce! But people are weird about it - when I asked for one without it, I was told I wasn't a "real Nova Scotian" because I didn't want that sickly sweet crap all over my otherwise perfect meal. So I found the easiest thing to do to avoid this sandwich-based harassment is just ask for it "on the side" in a container, and then just throw it in the trash where it belongs. Even better if you can swap it in for something else a lot less sweet and bit more spicy. Pretty much everywhere else in the world that has adopted and made some variation of the doner kebab gets the sauce right.