If there was ever a Turkish street food that is popular will almost everyone it is definitely döner. With or without a sauce, rolled up in lavash as a dürüm or in between bread as a sandwich, this street delicacy is often eaten with ayran, which is a drink made of yogurt, water and salt.
What is Doner Kebab (Döner)?
Döner is a kind of kebab made of layers of meat on a vertical, rotating skewer. Different types of meat are used, although beef and chicken are the most common. As the döner sizzles on its spit, the cook cuts thin strips and serves it as a wrap or sandwich with some greens, pickles and/or sauce, depending on the establishment.
Jump to RecipeThe origins
The earliest references to döner are not written, but rather pictures from the 17th century, making it likely much older (1). Another account comes from İskender Efendi, who had the idea in the 1850s to roast lamb at his father’s restaurant vertically rather than horizontally. This style of spit roasting became more widespread over the years, taking on the name döner kebab, although this claim comes from Yusuf İskenderoğlu, a descendants of İskender Efendi (2). A cook by the name of Hamdi, however, is said to have done something similar decades earlier in Kastamonu (3).
Aside from its origins in the Ottoman period, Kadir Numan is cited as the one who brought the dish to Germany in the 1970s, making it one of the most popular street foods in the country (4).
Etymology
The word döner comes from the Turkish verb “dönmek”, which means to rotate. The Greek version—gyros— more commonly known in the U.S. is similarly derived from the Greek verb gyrizo, which also means to rotate.
Kremenzi and Helou say, “Greeks, in their most successful food marketing coup ever, managed to hijack the Turkish and Middle Eastern döner, making it known the world over as gyro, a brilliant made-up word (so far as I know) for that type of roasted meat” (5). The only remarkable difference to the döner is that it is made mostly with lamb or pork.
Döner - Vertical rotisserie meat never tasted so good
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef
- 1 onion
- 2 tbsp yoghurt
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sweet and pepper
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the beef into thin strips and grate the onion. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and knead the meat in with this marinade. Cover the bowl and let it rest for at least 12 hours. Letting it rest for even longer—up to 24 hours—will make it taste even better. Place the meat onto some plastic wrap, roll it up and let it harden in the freezer for at least 2 hours. Thinly cut the frozen meat. If the frozen meat gets too soft to be able to cut thin slices, place it back in the freezer for a bit longer. Fry the meat on high heat.
Notes
Bibliography
(1) Marianna Yerasimos, “500 Yıllık Osmanlı Mutfağı”, 2002.(2) http://iskender.com/the-legend-of-iskender/the-legend-of-iskender/499
(3) Eberhard Seidel-Pielen, „Döner-Fieber sogar in Hoyerswerda“, 1996.
(4) https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2088/umfrage/beliebtestes-fast-food/
(5) Aglaia Kremenzi and Anissa Helou, “What’s in the Name of a Dish? The Words Mean what the People of the Mediterranean Want Them to Mean…” in “Food and Language: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2009”, ed. Richard Hosking
