“I can still remember when doner kebabs were sold for €3.50,” reminisced one teenager amid calls for a price brake to stop rising kebab costs.
The German capital is the birthplace of that ubiquitous European fast food, the doner kebab, and it shows.
Kebab shops line streets of many German cities, particularly in Berlin, and the scent of roasting, skewered meat is never far off.
Some two-million doner kebabs — meat wrapped in bread, topped with sauces and vegetables — are consumed a day in Germany, according to an industry association, quite a lot for a country of 83 million people. And the doner kebab has even supplanted the old stalwart, the currywurst — fried veal sausage topped with ketchup and curry powder — as the most popular fast-food dish in the country, according to a 2022 survey.
Gyros Greek though and kebab is Turkish. Even if they are eerily similar both cultures will go to war over them being different.
Gyros is made from spicy, marinated meat. Döner is made from just meat and fat, without any spicing or marinating or whatever. Gyros is made from pork, döner is a mixture of lamb and beef. They’re also served a bit differently.
They’re plenty different originally. In Germany they’ve been bastardized a little bit and brought close to each other. And then Germany went and declared they invented döner kebap, which is of course utter bullshit.
You could argue that the spinning rotissery is the main factor in this dish, it is in the name in most cultures. The type of meat used differ indeed, but most recipes I’ve read of doner kebap do include a spice marinade f.i.:
Combine flour, oregano, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl.
But the main thing I was going about is that the two nations share a bunch of history, and therefore culture, but after Greek independance they have tried very hard to distance themselves from each other. The main difference is that in Greece you’ll never find an option for hot sauce with your gyros, whilst in Turkey it is on offer.
Interesting here in Canada we call it Donair and it’s made from spiced meat. Lamb, beef or chicken. Then there is tzatziki sauce or garlic and hummus, and pickled vegetables as well as regular ones.
We also claim to have invented it, the “Halifax Donair” yet it’s sure similar to Turkish shawarma and Greek gyros…
Turkish shawarma doesn’t exist. That’s more towards the middle east. You won’t really, find it in Turkey. Though I wish you could, because more diversity is always more better.
Anyway, the way naming kebap dishes works (kebap is not a dish, it’s the name of a large and diverse family of meat dishes, not unlike salad) is you can introduce all sorts of variations into an existing dish, afterwards you’re free to slap your own name on it. There are hundreds of examples of this in Turkish cuisine. So, Halifax Donair is fine. You invented a new variation of an existing kebap dish, you get to name it and claim ownership. That’s how it is. What Germany has done is put their own regional spin on döner kebap, which had long existed, and then claim to have invented döner kebap itself. Call it Berlin kebap or whatever, but don’t use the name of an existing dish. That’s like claiming ownership of pizza margherita just because you added a couple new toppings and baked it in a square pan. It’s dumb and wrong.
