A sad day for German fast food

The inventor of the German version of the world-famous döner kebab, Mahmut Agyün, died this week. He was 87 years old.

In the words of a German obituary:

Aygün came up with the now ubiquitous döner while working at the “City Imbiss” snack shop in West Berlin in 1971. Cutting meat off a huge rotating spit, he was inspired to put it in pita bread and dress it up with vegetables and yoghurt sauce. Selling for two marks, the döner quickly became a staple of German street food alongside Teutonic favourites such as the bratwurst.




Although Aygün went on to considerable culinary success in Berlin, he didn’t make money from the thousands of kebab shops across Germany that copied him because he failed to patent his invention.

Still, he will be remembered by countless legions of döner kebab fans around the world.

The German version of this international cuisine, originating in Turkey, spread like wildfire. It's estimated that today, over half the döner kebabs sold worldwide follow the German recipe, rather than the traditional one. Listing all the international variations, Wikipedia notes:

In many cities throughout Germany, the Turkish Döner Kebab and Vegetarischer Döner, made with Falafel, are far more popular than hamburgers or sausages, especially with young people, who eat a "Döner" (as it is usually just called) for lunch, dinner and late at night after returning from clubs and bars (costs: between €1 and €3 in Berlin, although may be more expensive in other smaller German cities where Döner shops are not as prevalent).

Typically, along with the meat, a salad consisting of chopped lettuce, cabbage, onions, cucumber, and tomatoes is offered, as well as a choice of sauces (hot sauce ["scharfe Soße"], herb sauce ["Kräutersoße"], garlic sauce ["Knoblauchsoße"], or yoghurt ["Joghurtsoße"]). The filling is served in thick flatbread ("Fladenbrot") that is usually toasted or warmed. There are different variations on the Döner Kebab, one of which is the "Kebab mit Pommes." This is similar to a normal Döner Kebab, except it has french fries in addition to the meat. Another variety is achieved by placing the ingredients on a Lahmacun (a flat round dough topped with minced meat and spices) and then rolling the ingredients inside the dough into a tube that is eaten out of a wrapping of usually aluminum foil ("Döner Pizza"). When plain dough is used (without the typical Lahmacun spices and minced meat) you refer to the rolled Kebab as "Dürüm Döner" or "Döner Yufka" [shown below].




The packaging of the Döner itself in Germany is typically a wax paper sleeve with an image of a male cook sharpening a knife in front of a large spit.

Statistically, the Germans consume 200 to 300 metric tonnes of Döner Kebab per day. In 1998, they spent about €1.5 billion on Döner Kebab. Germany's large Turkish minority is probably the biggest reason for the widespread sale of Döner Kebab sandwiches there: After World War II, large numbers of Turks were invited to come to Germany as "guest workers", to help with the German reconstruction effort and fill a then acute labour shortage caused by the loss of manpower in WWII. Some of these Turkish workers eventually stayed in Germany, and opening small food shops and takeaways was an excellent option in terms of progressing from more menial jobs.

I was introduced to German-style döner kebab in Berlin on a cold, snowy night many years ago. It warmed me up from the inside out, making a miserable evening into a memorable one. I've been a fan ever since. One can't get döner kebab in Louisiana for love or money (the local Cajun cooks would probably burn one at the stake for introducing another foreign innovation to their cherished back yard!), but I try to get one whenever I'm in a more döner-friendly location.




If you've never had one, you're in for a treat. Get one soon!

Peter