Shish Tawook (Egyptian)

Shish tawook is Egypt’s answer to grilled chicken skewers, cubes of chicken breast marinated in lemon, garlic, and spices until they are almost impossibly tender, then charred over fire and served with the country’s famous garlic sauce, toum. It is the dish that shows up at every summer barbecue and garden party, threaded onto skewers beside trays of grilled tomatoes and onions. In Egypt, toum is whipped into a cloud-like white sauce that people buy by the jar, and it is half the reason the skewers disappear so fast.

Charred at the edges, garlic from the inside out

The lemon-and-garlic marinade does something almost magical to chicken breast, keeping it juicy through a hard sear and giving it a bright, savory tang. The edges turn smoky and caramelized while the inside stays tender, and the fluffy, pungent toum on the side takes every bite to another level. Wrap it all in warm bread with grilled tomatoes, and you have the perfect summer plate. If you cannot find toum, a garlicky yogurt sauce is a fine stand-in.

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