As eating challenges go, Nova Scotia’s six-pound donair is as tough as they come.
Weighing about the same as a Chihuahua, the heaping pile of fried meat atop a pizza-sized pita has yet to meet someone hungry enough to devour it in under an hour.
Plenty of people have tried, but so far, no one has managed to conquer the monstrous donair, said Justin Ayre, owner of Alexandra’s Pizza in Sydney, N.S.
“Some guys walk in and think they can just devour it right away, but within the first 30 minutes, they’re done. They’re toast,” Ayre told CTV Atlantic.
Aside from bragging rights, finishing the colossal dish comes with a prize. Alexandra’s Pizza has offered a $500 donation to the winner’s local charity of choice, a photo on the restaurant’s wall-of-fame, and free pizza or donairs for a year.
That is, if they’re interested.
“I don’t know if they’d want to eat donair again after this,” Ayre said.
Building the beast takes time. First, the cook has to hand-make the massive pita, which weighs about one pound. Next, five pounds of thinly-sliced beef is sizzled on the grill.
The meat is then heaped atop the bread and finished off with handfuls of chopped tomatoes, onions and generous drizzle of garlicky donair sauce.
Experienced eaters have prepared for the daunting task, with some going so far as to attempt to grow their stomachs.
“Some people, they’ve trained for this. Thirty days prior, they start drinking water and eat as much as they possibly can, trying to expand their stomachs,” Ayre said.
The donair is a popular late-night dish in Nova Scotia with a strong resemblance to Greece’s gyro. According to local legend, the lamb-based wrap was first brought to Nova Scotia by a Greek restauranteur in the 1960s. To accommodate local tastes, lamb was eventually swapped out for spiced beef, and a sweeter sauce was created.
In 2015, Halifax dubbed the donair the city’s official food.
With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald
