BERLIN--
I came to Berlin expecting all manner of wursts, dumplings and beers. But I’ve found a much more “globalized” approach to snacking. 
In fact, the doner kebab is one of the most widespread Schnell Imbiss (German for “fast food”) in town.
We rented an apartment for a week in the neighborhood that straddles the Kreuzberg and Schoeneberg sections of town. It’s a reasonably upscale enclave, heavily dominated by Turkish families and businesses. That means supermarkets with vast selections of packaged grains, bottled sauces and relishes, and variously flavored sheep’s milk cheeses.
But, more importantly, it also means hundreds of storefronts and stands peddling the doner kebab, all within walking distance of our apartment. (There are hundreds more throughout city.)
The “kebab” is actually a huge hunk of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie in the same fashion as a gyro. It’s usually lamb and it’s highly seasoned with Mediterranean spices.
The merchant slices off a few thin pieces, tucks them into a Turkish-style pita (which is thicker and chewier than traditional pita bread) and piles in salad greens, tomatoes, onions, and shredded, multi-colored cabbages, then douses the whole thing with a mayo-like dressing. It’s then wrapped in paper and foil, which allows all the flavors to merge and the juices to soak through the bread a bit. It’s a massive, and messy, meal.
Though the doner kebab is widely considered a Turkish invention, it was, in fact, invented in the Kreuzberg neighborhood in 1971 by an enterprising gent who still runs a chain of Turkish restaurants (Hasir) in Berling. Or so the local lore goes.
Wherever it came from, it has made its mark on this fast food-crazy city.
Have you been to the Kebab Shop in East Village? It's a fairly new place, and they make the doner kebabs just the way they do in Europe!
Posted by: Melanie | May 22, 2008 at 09:42 AM