Doner kebab

Döner kebab

The döner meat is being sliced from a rotating spit. Note the gas grill behind the spit, which is used to cook the meat.
Alternative names	Shawarma, Gyros
Course	Main course
Place of origin	Turkey
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	Sliced beef, chicken and sometimes fish meat, salad, pide
Variations	Multiple
Cookbook: Döner kebab   Media: Döner kebab

Döner kebab (Turkish döner kebap, literally "rotating roast"), is a Turkish national dish made of meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off to order. The meat may be lamb, mutton, beef, goat, or chicken. Alternative names include kebab, donair, döner, ντονερ, doner or donner. Döner Kebab is the origin of other similar Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes such as shawarma and gyros.

History

İskender kebap

The original form of today's döner kebab is Cağ kebab. The original form is grilled horizontally and the slices are cut thicker, after inserting a special L-shaped Oltu shish along the surface. In the 19th century, the modern form was invented in Bursa. This original dish, known as İskender kebap, is still served in many cities of Turkey.

Today, döner kebab is typically served with meat, a kind of sandwich in a small pide (Turkish pita bread). The döner kebab with salad and sauce served in pita, which is predominant in Germany, was invented in Berlin-Kreuzberg in 1971, because the original preparation was not appealing enough to German tastes. The döner has been among the most popular fast food dishes in Germany since the 1980s.

Preparation of meat for döner kebabs

Döner kebab sandwich served in a thick pita (Template:Lang-tr).

The meat used for making döner kebabs may be lamb, beef, veal or chicken, never pork. Generally a döner kebab sandwich is served with a salad made from shredded lettuce, tomatoes and onions, often also with cabbage and cucumbers. Usually there is a choice between a hot sauce, a yoghurt sauce containing garlic (tzatziki) and a yoghurt sauce containing herbs. The donairs made in Atlantic (Eastern) Canada are almost always made with a sweetened garlic sauce, and this sauce (called donair sauce) is also used as a dipping sauce for garlic fingers. Most of the kebab vendors in Europe also have French fries which can be served as a side or wrapped with the meat and salad. Some times more varied ingredients are available, such as hummous (chick pea paste), tahini (sesame paste) or Turkish white cheese. Donair pizzas are available in Atlantic Canada as well, and feature donair meat, donair sauce, tomatoes, and onions as toppings.

There are two basic ways of preparing meat for döner kebabs:

• 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 infrared heat from electric elements or gas fired burners. Often, tomatoes, and onions are placed at the top of the stack to drip juices over the meat keeping it moist.
• Some cheaper shops serve a combination of seasoned sliced and ground meat cooked on a grilltop as döner kebab. In Germany the amount of ground meat is not allowed to surpass 60% (Deutsches Lebensmittelbuch).

See also

• Döner kebab in the world
• Dürüm
• Taco al pastor, a similar dish from Mexico, made from spiced pork and served in a tortilla.
• Gyros

Doner kebabs are very popular with many people in Great Britain, usually as an end to a night out and especially if the purchase has been preceded by consumption of excess alcohol. These kebabs are also served in pitta bread with a wide choice of salad such as lettuce, onion, tomato, cabbage, cucumbers, chillis, etc. They can also be served with many different sauces such as mint sauce, garlic, bbq sauce, chilli, mayonnaise, etc.

External links

• The Chilli Source - reviews of UK kebab shops together with descriptions of the common types.