Ah, the Döner. The Wall Street Journal once said: “There's Nothing More German Than a Big, Fat Juicy Döner Kebab.” And I couldn’t agree more.
Simply put the Döner (/ˈdøːnɐ/) is flat pieces of cooked meat such as lamb, served in a pita with salad. But beyond that, it is the perfect metaphor of the crossover from a homogenous to heterogeneous society in Germany.
Created in Germany, made by Immigrants, eaten by everyone.
The Döner is a full meal, an all-in-one dish, combining the best of both worlds: It starts with good bread (we are in Germany after all), which is usually a flatbread called “Pide” (introduced by immigrants), add seasoned meat (typical for Turkish cuisine) and/or roasted vegetables, top it off with a selection of salad, usually consisting of red cabbage (household stable in German cuisine), onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber mix (Mediterranean diet right here), and hold together by incredibly delicious sauces, from spicy, garlicky (accustomed to Turkish mouths) to mild, herb-infused (customized to the German tastebuds).
The Döner is delicious, universal, transboundary, versatile, tolerant, and democratic. It doesn’t discriminate and is available to all. It comes in many variations, attending perfectly to its very diverse customers. It serves carnivores, vegetarians, and vegans. It has no religion. Affordable by the most, yet still adored by the “elite”. You can get it at any time of the day or in any season. But it is always a good idea, especially after one of those Berlin nights with one too many drinks. You can take it to go as a street snack or savor it while sitting as a full-on restaurant dish. This fast food wonder can do it all.
The Döner is made from seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone, which is grilled on a revolving vertical spit like a rotisserie. That’s how the dish got its name: “döner” means “rotary”, “turning” in Turkish. The outer layer is sliced into thin shavings as it cooks. The cut meat is put into bread, then salad and different sauces are added.
Today there are many variations of the Döner, and the best is, that you can customize yours according to your own taste.
”Mit und ohne scharf?”, “Salat alles?”, “Hier oder zum Mitnehmen bitte?”
Besides the dish itself and eating it, arguably one of the best parts of buying a Döner, are the creators, the vendors, the chefs. They are friendly and warm, and many of them are very generous and funny. They are also the best of both worlds: German efficiency meets Mediterranean charm.
A brief history: The Döner in bread is an invention from Berlin
Although the familiar rotating döner kebab meat, roasted on a vertical spit and sliced with a sword, has been well known in Turkey since the mid-1800s, the meat was mainly served on plates and was only available in restaurants back then. Until 1972 in Berlin, a man named Kadir Nurman put the meat into quality flatbread and made it to the street snack that we know today.
Kadir Nurman is widely credited with the invention of the Berlin Döner Kebab. Nurman came to Germany from Turkey with the wave of guest workers in the ’60s. He quickly noticed that Germany has a strong meritocracy and that people were eating things they can hold in their hands while running to and from work. Then in 1972, he got the idea: First, he put the Döner meat in flatbread, so people could take it to-go. Later he added the salad and the sauces. It is the absolute product of integration.
Today the Berlin Döner is famous worldwide, with shops outside of Berlin explicitly marketing their dish with the distinction “Berlin Döner”, even in Turkey. The 16,000 Döner shops with their neon signs and illuminated shop signage are an essential part of every German cityscape. There are over 3000 Döner shops in Berlin, making it the capital of Döner, selling about 400,000 per day (Source: Berliner Morgenpost).
The Döner is German with an immigrant background. It belongs to modern-day Germany. It is part of Germany. Like the people, who created it and all who enjoy it.
