Ode to the Döner, a multicultural delicacy

What comes from a big cone of meat, costs pocket change, and is the most authentically German food out there?

Forget sausages. The correct answer is the Döner, of course.
I have mentioned it a few times in this blog. But from my early Döner discovery to the present day, I have never actually dedicated a full post to this delicious treat.

You can buy a kebab anywhere in northern Europe. The Dutch have them, the Brits have them, the Finns, even the Belgians are in on it. But the Döner kebab has a unique German history, which is also Turkish. While Germany's integration of it 3 millionTurks is nothing to be proud of, the Döner is a perfect example of multiculturalism.

And the thanks all goes to one man. In the 1950s and 60s, Turkish guest workers came to Germany to work in post-war construction projects. A man named Kadir Nurman came to Berlin and worked as fitter for printing machines. A natural salesman, Nurman came up with the idea to make a Turkish food that could be enjoyed on the go. While most kebab came on a plate with rice and salad, Nurman invented the Döner Tasche. The perfect marriage of the bread that Germans love and the meat and toppings that come from Turkey, the Tasche was an ideal food to go. And so Nurman became 'der Döner Vater', the godfather of Döner.

So what is that huge cone of meat? It's a mix of veal and lamb, seasoned with spices and bathed in a yogurt marinade. It slowly rotates on a vertical rotisserie so that, as it cooks, the juices drip down into the meat rather than into the fire (hungry yet?). The inner layers remain uncooked. The whole thing can weigh up to 200 lbs.

Angela likes a good Döner

Here's how you order a Döner:
The most popular version is the Tasche, or pocket. So you ask the friendly Turkish man for a Tasche, and asks you what kind of meat you want: chicken or lamb. You want lamb. He shaves it off the big cone of rotating meat with an electric knife, and scoops it into the homemade pita bread that he's just warmed up for you. Then he asks if you want everything. You do. He piles on cucumbers and tomatoes, white cabbage, red cabbage, lettuce. Do you want tzaziki sauce? and hot sauce? Yes and yes. The seasoned grease from the meat soaks a little into the fresh, spongy bread. And then you understand what integration tastes like.**

While the Döner kebab may have been invented in Berlin, you can go to almost any town in Germany and find a kebab shop. That means that there's probably a Turkish family in town. Maybe they've been there for decades, but there's no way to know how well they fit in with their German neighbors. At least we know they all come together when those neighbors are chowing down on some Döner Tasches.


** I am only an occasional meat-eater. But I am happy for those occasions to happen at the Döner shop.