Döner kebab

Doner kebab (, ; tr, döner or , ), also spelled döner kebab, is a type of kebab, made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone is turned slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical cooking element. The operator uses a knife to slice thin shavings from the outer layer of the meat as it cooks. The vertical rotisserie was invented in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire, and dishes such as the Arab shawarma, Greek gyros, Canadian donair, and Mexican al pastor are derived from this.

The modern sandwich variant of döner kebab originated and was popularized in 1970s West Berlin by Turkish immigrants. This was recognized by the Berlin-based Association of Turkish Doner Manufacturers in Europe, in 2011. Nowadays there are more döner kebab stores in Berlin than in Istanbul.

The sliced meat of a doner kebab may be served on a plate with various accompaniments, stuffed into a pita or other type of bread as a sandwich, or wrapped in a thin flatbread such as lavash or yufka, known as a '' dürüm'' (literally meaning ''roll'' or ''wrap'' in Turkish). Kadir Nurman in the early 1970s introduced the sandwich or wrap form, which has become popular around the world as a fast food dish sold by kebab shops, and is often called simply a "kebab". The sandwich generally contains salad or vegetables, which may include tomato, lettuce, cabbage, onion with sumac, fresh or pickled cucumber, or chili, and various types of sauces.

History

In the Ottoman Empire, at least as far back as the 17th century, stacks of seasoned sliced meat were cooked on a horizontal rotisserie, similar to the cağ kebab. The vertical rotisserie was introduced no later than the mid-19th century. The town of Bursa, in modern-day Turkey, is often considered the birthplace of the vertically roasted döner kebab. According to Yavuz İskenderoğlu, his grandfather İskender Efendi as a child in 1850s Bursa had the idea of roasting the lamb at his father's restaurant vertically rather than horizontally; it was a success, and some years later became known as ''döner kebap''. However, he may have been preceded by Hamdi Usta from Kastamonu around 1830.

An Arab version became known as '' shawarma''. By at least the 1930s it had been brought overseas, and was sold in restaurants in Mexico by Lebanese immigrants. Doner kebab likely arrived in Greece in the 1920s with the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, later transforming into '' gyros''.

It was not until a century after its invention that döner kebab was introduced and popularized in Istanbul, most famously by Beyti Güler. His restaurant, first opened in 1945, was soon discovered by journalists and began serving döner and other kebab dishes to kings, prime ministers, film stars and celebrities. It has been sold in sandwich form in Istanbul since at least the mid-1960s.

The döner kebab and its derivatives served in a sandwich form as " fast food" came to worldwide prominence in the mid to late 20th century. The first doner kebab shop in London opened in 1966 and they were a familiar sight in provincial cities by the late 1970s, while gyros was already popular in Greece and New York City in 1971. A Greek-Canadian variation, the donair, was introduced in 1972, eventually becoming the official food of Halifax, and spreading across the country. By the 1960s, the '' taco al pastor'' in Mexico had evolved from the shawarma.

In Germany, the döner kebab was popularized by Turkish guest workers in Berlin in the early 1970s. The dish developed there from its original form into a distinctive style of sandwich with abundant salad, vegetables, and sauces, sold in large portions at affordable prices, that would soon become one of the top-selling fast food and street food dishes in Germany and much of Europe, and popular around the world.

Etymology

In the English name "", the word ''doner'' is borrowed from the Turkish , with the Turkish letter '' ö'' usually anglicized as "o", though "döner kebab" is an alternative spelling in English. The word "" is used, which comes to English from the ar, كَبَاب (''kabāb''), partly through Urdu

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