Döner kebab (as döner kebap in Turkish and often simply döner or donair), which literally means "rotating roast meat" is originally a Turkish dish made with mutton.

In travelogues from the 18th century, döner kebab is described as a dish from Asia Minor, consisting of mutton grilled on vertical rotating skewers. Traditionally, it was served on a plate with rice and a hot sauce. Today, döner kebab is typically served as a kind of sandwich in pita (flat bread). This type of döner kebab has been available in Istanbul since about 1960. The döner kebab with salad and sauce served in pita, which is predominant in Germany, was invented in Berlin-Kreuzberg in the early 1970s.

The meat may be lamb, beef or chicken, but never pork. After the BSE crisis (mad cow disease) even fish was used. Generally, there is a choice between a hot sauce, a yoghurt sauce containing garlic and a yoghurt sauce containing herbs. Sometimes goat cheese can be added.

There are basically two ways of preparing meat for döner kebab The most common and authentic method is to stack seasoned slices of lean meat onto a vertical skewer in the shape of a cylinder. The stack is cooked by radiant heat from electric elements or gas fired infrared burners

Often fatty meat, tomatos, and onions are placed at the top of the stack to drip juices over the meat keeping it moist. There are two ways of cutting meat from the cone: first by using a long and very sharp knife and second by using an electric knife with a rotating disc blade. The latter produces thinner pieces of meat and thus increases the number of portions obtained from a stack..

Some cheaper shops serve a combination of seasoned sliced and ground meat in cooked on a grilltop as döner kebab. In Germany the amount of ground meat is not allowed to surpass 60% (Hackfleischverordnung).

In Germany, döner kebab is far more popular than hamburgers or sausages. Statistically, the Germans consume 200 to 300 metric tons of döner kebab per day. In 1998, they spent about €1.5 billion on döner kebab. Germany's large Turkish minority is probably the biggest reason for the widespread sale of döner kebab sandwiches there: After World War II, large numbers of Turks were invited to come to Germany as "guest workers" (Gastarbeiter), to help with the German reconstruction effort and fill an acute labor shortage caused by the loss of manpower in WWII. A certain share of these Turkish workers eventually stayed in Germany and opening small food shops and takeaways was an excellent option in terms of progressing from more menial jobs.

In France, döner kebab is often referred to as sandwich grec (Greek sandwich), which may come from the similarity of this meat to the Greek Gyros. It is served either in pita bread or in a baguette, often with a dose of fries.

The doner kebab with salad and sauce is also a very popular dish in the United Kingdom. The typical kebab supplier (known as "Kebab Shops") in the UK will offer hot chilli sauce (the most common), a barbecue sauce and garlic yoghurt-style sauce, though a mint sauce similar to raita is also common. Kebabs are often eaten as take-away food on the way home after a night out. They are very much part of the Friday and Saturday night culture rather than, say, lunchtime food. Typically, a doner kebab will be served in one of two ways in the UK: wrapped in pita bread; or served in a partitioned tray with separate areas for salad and meat.

In Australia, kebabs are also very popular and are percived as a healthier alternative to McDonalds or KFC, thanks to immigration from Greece, Turkey, Yugoslavia and Lebanon. Kebabs are usually served in pita bread, rather than in a sandwich.

A variation on the döner kebab known as a Donair was introduced in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in the early 1970s. A restaurant called The King Of Donair (http://www.kingofdonairs.com) claims to have been the first to serve this version in 1973. The meat in this version is sliced from a loaf made from a combination of ground beef, flour or bread crumbs, and various spices, while the sauce is made from evaporated milk, sugar, vinegar, and sometimes garlic. The meat and sauce are served rolled in pita bread with condiments such as tomato and onion. This version of the donair is very popular in the Eastern provinces of Canada, with many fast food pizza restaurants also featuring donairs on the menu. Many of them also offer a donair pizza featuring all of the donair ingredients served on a pizza crust.

See also

• Kebab for other kinds of kebab
• Gyros, a similar Greek dish made from flattened strips of spiced ground lamb.
• Shawarma, a identical dish from the Near East
• Taco al pastor, a similar dish from Mexico, made from spiced pork and served in a tortilla.

External link

• A brief discourse on the doner kebab (http://www.btinternet.com/~doner.ride/battle.htm)
• A search engine for doner kebab (http://www.kebab365.com) (international coverage, but still focus on German kebabs)
• Collection of Döner Kebab paper bags (http://www.kebab365.com/style/pictures.php?skip=0&lang=en&was=13)
• recipe for a Halifax-style donair (http://maindish.allrecipes.com/az/55855.asp)de:Döner

fr:Kebab it:Kebap he:קבב ja:ケバブ no:Kebab nn:Kebab fi:Kebab sv:Kebab zh:羊肉串