Shawarma: the staple of Ottawa cuisine

Newcomers to Ottawa may be confused by the unique diet kept by locals, consisting, if you’re to believe the travel literature, largely of BeaverTails — locally farmed deep-fried dough with sugar, cinnamon and lemon, as well as other optional toppings, a wintertime favourite of Rideau Canal skaters — and, of far greater year-round consumption, shawarmas, a Lebanese import consisting of slow-cooked seasoned, marinated and skewered chicken or beef, rolled into a pita bread sandwic