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HISTORY

How the humble Döner kebab evolved into Berlin’s go-to fast food snack

The Döner kebab is without doubt one of the staples of the German fast-food scene, with over 1000 Dönerläden (kebab shops) to choose from in the capital city alone. But how did the street-food sensation come to be the worldwide hit it is today?

Published: 14 August 2020 16:29 CEST

How the humble Döner kebab evolved into Berlin's go-to fast food snack

A typical German Döner at a snack bar in Stuttgart. Photo: DPA

Succulent grilled meat cooked on a vertical spit, served in a flatbread with fresh salad and a sauce of your choice: the Döner is now the go-to lunch or late-night snack for millions across Germany.

The industry itself is worth more than €3.5 billion a year and a spectacular 600 tonnes of Döner meat is eaten nationwide every single day.

A specialty born in Berlin?

But where did this ground-breaking culinary invention come from? The most widely held assumption is that the Döner was invented by Kadir Nurman, a Turkish Gastarbeiter (guest worker) who emigrated to West Germany in the 1960s as part of the post-war reconstruction effort.

After moving from Stuttgart to Berlin in 1966, Nurman quickly noticed that there was a distinct lack of convenient lunch foods for the city’s busy workers.

That was when the idea struck him. He thought that kebab meat, which had been served on plates with rice in Turkey since the mid-1800s, could be sold in a portable sandwich form to people on the street.

Shortly after, in 1972, he decided to leave his job as a mechanic and set up an Imbiss (snack bar) near the Zoo in former West Berlin.

The Döner sold in this kiosk would be unrecognisable to many Germans today: rather than the familiar trimmings of salad and sauce, Nurman’s flatbreads were filled only with kebab meat, onion and some lettuce.

Döner meat turns on spits in a snack bar in Munich. Photo: DPA

Nevertheless, hungry Berliners soon warmed to the idea, and before long new Döner shops started to pop up across Germany and worldwide.

As Nurman did not patent the idea, he did not benefit financially from the Döner’s later success. In an interview with Frankfurter Rundschau, however, he expressed his joy that so many Turkish people have been able to make a living by selling the fast-food snack.

In 2011, two years before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award by the Association of Turkish Döner Manufacturers, and he has since been widely credited as the “inventor” of the beloved dish.

Whilst the Döner’s global appeal remains undisputed, however, the accuracy of this origin story has been thrown into doubt in recent times.

Disputed origins

Some argue that the Döner was, in fact, not a “German” invention at all. The concept of a rotating vertical kebab originates, much like the kebab meat itself, from Istanbul in the 1940s, whilst the Greek take on the dish (known as the gyro) had already proved itself to be a hit in the cities of Athens, New York and Chicago by 1971.

What is more, Nurman is not the only German to have laid claim to the Döner’s invention. In 2012, a Turkish man named Nevzat Salim came forward as a contender for the title, alleging to have sold the first Döner from a stand in the town of Reutlingen in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg in 1969.

A similar claim was made by another Turkish Berliner, Mehmet Aygün, who insists he invented the Döner in 1971.

With so many conflicting theories, it seems that the question of who brought the Döner to the streets of Germany may never be truly answered.

It could, naturally, be possible that several people happened to come across the idea around the same time.

But if there is one thing for certain, it’s that the dish has proved itself to be an important part of the Turkish community’s integration into German life.

So, next time you feel guilty for snacking on a late-night Döner, take comfort in the fact that you’ll be supporting an industry that has provided employment for thousands and left a lasting mark on the country’s culinary landscape.

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Essential guide for travelling with allergies in Sweden

EU allergy laws

“Sweden is covered by EU laws on the 14 most common dangerous food allergens,” Liselott Florén, head of communications at Sweden’s Asthma and Allergy Association, told The Local. “When you eat out in restaurants, cafés, hotels, or similar places, they are legally obliged to be able to explain what the food contains.”

When buying prepackaged food, you’ll usually see any ingredients containing one of these allergens highlighted in bold or capital letters. Here’s a list of the 14 most common food allergens with their Swedish translations.

Cereals containing gluten – spannmål, som innehåller gluten
Crustaceans – kräftdjur
Eggs – ägg
Fish – fisk
Peanuts – jordnötter
Soy beans – sojabönor
Milk – mjölk
Nuts/tree nuts – nötter
Celery – selleri
Mustard – senap
Sesame – sesam/sesamfrön
Sulphur dioxide and sulphites – svaveldioxid och sulfit
Lupin – lupin
Molluscs – blötdjur

Depending on your allergy, it can be a good idea to learn the Swedish words for common food items that may contain your allergen, like ost, grädde or vasslepulver (cheese, cream or whey powder) for milk allergies, although these will often be followed by the name of the allergen in question, too. For example, you might see whey powder listed on an ingredients list as vasslepulver (av MJÖLK) [whey powder (from MILK)].

Common cereals you should look out for on Swedish ingredient lists are vete (wheat), råg (rye), havre (oats) and korn (barley), and tree nuts include hasselnöt (hazelnut), valnöt (walnut), cashewnöt (cashew nut), pekannöt (pecan nut), paranöt (brazil nut), pistage (pistachio) and makadamianöt (macadamia nut).

Be aware that this is not an exhaustive list, so double check any ingredient highlighted in bold on an ingredient list before eating to make sure it’s not something you’re allergic to.

Note that many Swedish words are compounds, so these words might crop up as part of other words too, for example matvete (wheat berries, often served as an alternative to rice) or havredryck/mjölk (oat drink/milk). These are usually highlighted in ingredient lists with the allergen in bold, for example matvete or havredryck.

Some more important phrases are kan innehålla (may contain), kan innehålla spår av (may contain traces of) and fri från (free from). People with egg or milk allergies should also be aware of the Swedish words used to mark vegan food – vegansk or växtbaserad (plant based). Don’t confuse this with vego, which can also mean vegetarian.

Be aware of common Swedish foods which may contain allergens. Some foods described as a salad (sallad) often contain mayonnaise, and eggs, fish and shellfish are all popular ingredients. Those with fish or crustacean allergies should watch out for prawns (räkor), crayfish (kräftor) and herring (sill), especially around Swedish holidays.

Sauces and gravys often contain cream, butter or milk, so make sure to check these, and there are a number of traditional Swedish cakes which contain almond (mandel) such as the mazarin and mandelmussla.

Always have a dialogue with staff in restaurants

Knowing the EU allergens can be useful for reading menus and ingredient lists in the supermarket, but Florén from the Asthma and Allergy Association warns people with allergies not to rely on written information alone when ordering in restaurants.

“In our experience, Swedes are better when it comes to oral information than written information,” she said. This is partly due to the fact that menus often change with the seasons, and may not always have the most up-to-date information.

“Swedish restaurants have come a long way when it comes to sustainability, creating new dishes based on the available ingredients. That’s why it’s always better to have a dialogue with the serving staff, or even better, the kitchen staff.”

In most restaurants, you’ll see the words ‘Allergi? Prata med personalen!’ (Allergy? Talk to staff!) displayed somewhere, and staff should be happy to help you.

Decide whether to make or buy an allergy card

Swedes are famously good at English, but for people with allergies it’s important that you’re completely confident that the person you’re talking to has understood what you’re trying to tell them.

It can be a good idea to write up some sort of message or card with information of your allergies included in Swedish which you can show to staff (you can also buy one of these online with information in multiple languages), but Florén said you should be wary of relying too much on this, and always discuss your allergies with staff directly.

“You can do that, but it’s really important that you don’t end up thinking ‘I’ve shown a card, I assume you can understand this information’, without some sort of dialogue,” she said.

It can also be a good idea to let the restaurant know about your allergies in advance, if possible, whether that’s by phone or online.

If you do choose to create a card or written message to show to staff, here are some useful phrases in Swedish which you can include:

Jag har en allvarlig/livshotande matallergi. – I have a serious/life-threatening food allergy.

Jag är allergisk mot… – I am allergic to…

Det är inte en [gluten/laktos]intolerans. – It is not a [gluten/lactose] intolerance.

You may also want to list some common foods that often include your allergen. For someone with a milk allergy, for example, you could write the following:

Det betyder att jag inte kan äta mjölk eller mjölkprodukter, som smör, grädde, gräddfil eller ost, till exempel.

(That means that I cannot eat milk or dairy products, like butter, cream, sour cream or cheese, for example.)

If you have an allergy to tree nuts, you may want to explain which nuts are included.

Jag är allergisk mot nötter, det vill säga hasselnöt, valnöt, cashewnöt, pekannöt, paranöt, pistage och makadamianöt.

(I am allergic to nuts, that means hazelnut, walnut, cashew nut, pecan nut, Brazil nut, pistachio and macadamia nut.)

You may also want to explain what you can eat. Things like pine nuts (pinjenötter), peanuts (jordnötter) and coconuts (kokos) are not tree nuts, for example, and those with milk allergies may need to explain that they can eat things like eggs (ägg) or mayonnaise (majonnäs), or traces of (spår av) certain foods.

Jag tål… – I can eat…

What to do if you have a reaction

You always have the right to acute healthcare in Sweden, no matter where you come from. This includes treatment for serious allergic reactions. The emergency number in Sweden is 112.

Depending on where you come from, the price of this healthcare varies.

Residents of Nordic and EU/EEA countries pay the same as someone living in Sweden if they need acute healthcare in other countries.

A Swede visiting the emergency room would pay around 400 kronor (35 euros), depending on the region, and around 130 kronor (12 euros) per day spent in hospital. You’d also need to pay extra for any medicine used in treatment, although this usually heavily discounted, and cannot exceed 2,850 kronor (250 euros) in a twelve month period.

Nordic residents will need to show ID and give their home address, while EU residents must show their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). It’s a good idea to always carry this with you while you’re in Sweden.

As a general rule, non-EU residents will need to pay the full price of any treatment themselves (which is why it’s a good idea to get travel insurance before your trip). The cost of a visit to the emergency room for this group is anywhere from around 3,800 to 6,000 kronor (330-520 euros). That doesn’t include any extra costs, such as medicine or an overnight hospital stay.

There are some exceptions for residents of certain countries, for example residents of Australia, Algeria, Israel, Turkey and the state of Québec in Canada can access certain healthcare at the same cost as Swedish residents.

UK residents can no longer get an EHIC card, unless they have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement, but they can show a GHIC (Global Health Insurance Card) instead to access healthcare at the same costs as Swedish residents.

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