The story of the Shish was born over two thousand years ago. It begins on the Silk Road, the ancient trade and communication route stretching from China through to Rome, an amalgamation of many interconnecting routes from East to West. Not only were goods and wares exchanged, but religions, beliefs, cultures, customs, languages and most important to our philosophy, foods.

The Silk Road connected Ancient China's capital city, Changan (today Xi'an) through a two continent, 5,000 mile journey to Ancient Rome. It crossed the Gobi and Taklimakan deserts, the dangerous Pamir mountains, through the Fergana valley and Persia to the European port cities of Antioch, Acre and Rome. The Silk Road is actually, different routes being chosen at various times according to what empire ruled each area, how safe it was and of course, what trade was to be done.

Existing since the first century A.D., it was named after it’s most famous and romantic product, silk, which was coveted by Roman Imperial nobility. There are many tales of how the secret of the silk worm escaped to the West, but the first silk worms were smuggled to Constantinople by two Catholic monks, and the West could now produce this finest of fabrics.

The Silk Road remained a major exchange route for everything from spices to gems, and, inevitably, cultural aspects such as foods. The food found on the Silk Road is a wide assortment of dishes, of diverse flavours and cultural blends. Recipes crossed in both directions, and it was along this route that the Chinese noodle traveled to become Italian pasta. The shish is a perfect example of this process - reflecting geography, cultures and different ethnic backgrounds. Throughout the Silk Road, the shish, or skewer, is evident, from the Far East through central Asia, from the Middle-East to the Mediterranean.