Don’t knock the doner kebab

By Arthur House

To British ears, the words “doner kebab” drip with unappealing connotations: dubious meat, dodgy food standards and decisions taken under the influence. Every Friday night in towns and cities across Britain, neon trapeziums lure drunken men to gorge on greasy meat shaved from an elephant’s leg. Here, the doner is usually eaten in consolation for a night out that has not gone as well as one hoped. It is a shameful thing, consumed in darkness. Nobody need know.

In Germany, the doner’s homeland, things could hardly be more different. Here the snack is a source of pride. Germans eat their doners in broad daylight and hold sophisticated views on their favourite outlets, much like Brits and their curry houses. The lunchtime queue at Mustafa Gemüse Kebab in Berlin (above) is 45 minutes long. The doner has outsold traditional favourites like the Bratwurst to become Germany’s favourite fast food. According to the Association of Turkish Doner Producers in Europe, 2m are sold in Germany each day from 40,000 outlets.