Also known as the döner kebap, the dish and others like it spread across the world, where goes by names such as gyro (Greek), shawarma (Arabic) and al pastor (Spanish), with endless local variations.
Mavi Boncuk |
The earliest known photo of the doner kebab, meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, taken in the Ottoman Empire in 1855. James Robertson
On the wooden table to the left of the square, there are pieces of lamb meat and at the other end of the table are the doner kebab, which is lined with a hook behind it and cooked in a charcoal fire.
The doner kebab arrived in Europe in the mid-1930s, when a handful of Greek and Armenian restaurant owners, decided to add it to their menus. At that time it was an unassuming dish known only to immigrants, who saw it as a cheap meal that also allowed them to preserve a symbolic link with their home countries.
It wasn’t until the 1980s and 1990s that the doner kebab really took off in Western Europe. As deindustrialization hit, many laid-off workers, in particular those originally from Turkey, decided to try their hand at food service.
With no extensive culinary knowledge and little capital, many of these new entrepreneurs turned to the doner kebab. Their inexpensive restaurants chiefly targeted workers, students and immigrants looking for an unpretentious place to grab a meal day or night. The doner kebab proved to be unexpectedly popular and gradually carved out a place in European cities’ culinary and social landscapes.
The rise in popularity of the doner kebab has been staggering. In Paris alone, there are now over 550 doner kebab shops. In the United Kingdom, they’re reportedly sold in 17,000 businesses. And in Germany, the European heartland of the doner kebab, 2 million were eaten daily in 2017.
This success is even more surprising given that it doesn’t depend on a monopoly by a globe-spanning food conglomerate, but on the (partly subconscious) “genius” of tens of thousands of independent food sellers. Not only do they serve a satisfying meal that meets the cultural and ethical standards of consumers – particularly with halal meat – but they also to keep up with swiftly changing European eating habits.
The original Hasir Restaurant in Kreuzberg, Berlin
In her 1999 research article “McDoener: Döner Kebab and the social positioning struggle of German Turks”, researcher Ayşe Çağlar explored the often positive associations between the doner kebab and Turkish immigrants in Germany. “The doner kebab has become part of the discourse surrounding the ‘issue of foreigners’ in Germany”, Ayşe wrote, citing slogans shouted at demonstrations in support of foreigners in 1980s Berlin: “Without foreigners, no doner kebabs!” and “Without us, no doner kebabs!”
This cultural and political association far from being specific just to Germany. For a Los Angeles Times reporter, the doner kebab is nothing less than the “Turkish immigrant’s gift to Germany”.
According to Ibrahim Doğuş, president of the Centre for Turkey Studies and director of the British Kebab Awards:
“The humble kebab holds a powerful message about a successful example of integration. It unites both newcomers and native eaters.”
SEE ALSO ARTICLE Was The Döner Kebab Invented In Berlin? – Mythbusting Berlin
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