“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. Gyros is made from pork, döner is a mixture of lamb and beef.
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.
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…