Beef and chicken glisten as they rotate slowly on vertical spits before they are carved off in razor-thin strips. Two cooks slide from a sizzling griddle to a warm toaster in a practiced dance. Mounds of fresh tomatoes, cabbage and red onions shine in a colorful tableau.
The scene at Kebap With Attitude in BerlinB次元官网网址檚 trendy Mitte neighborhood is typical of any street-side stand or restaurant where cooks pile the ingredients into pita bread to create the cityB次元官网网址檚 beloved d枚ner kebab.
But the snackB次元官网网址檚 status could be in jeopardy if the European Commission approves a bid by Turkey to regulate what can legally take the d枚ner kebab name.
In the balance is an industry that generates annual sales of roughly 2.3 billion euros (nearly $2.6 billion) in Germany alone, and 3.5 billion euros (nearly $3.9 billion) across Europe, according to the Berlin-based Association of Turkish D枚ner Producers in Europe.
B次元官网网址淔rom the government to the streets, everyone is eating d枚ner kebab,B次元官网网址� Deniz Buchholz, the owner of Kebap With Attitude, said as waiters ferried steaming orders from the kitchen to hungry lunchtime customers on a rainy Monday afternoon.
The word B次元官网网址渄枚nerB次元官网网址� is derived from the Turkish verb B次元官网网址渄枚nmek,B次元官网网址� which means B次元官网网址渢o turn.B次元官网网址� The meat is grilled for hours on a spit and sliced off when the meat becomes crisp and brown. In Turkey, the dish originally was made of lamb and sold only on a plate. But in the 1970s, Turkish immigrants in Berlin opted to serve it in a pita and tweak the recipe to make it special for Berliners.
B次元官网网址淭hey realized that the Germans like everything in the bread,B次元官网网址� said Buchholz, who was raised in Berlin and has Turkish roots. B次元官网网址淎nd then they said, B次元官网网址極K, letB次元官网网址檚 put this dish into a breadB次元官网网址� and this is how it came to d枚ner kebab Berlin-style.B次元官网网址�
In April, Turkey applied to have d枚ner kebab protected under a status called B次元官网网址渢raditional specialty guaranteed.B次元官网网址� ItB次元官网网址檚 below the vaunted B次元官网网址減rotected designation of originB次元官网网址� that applies to geographic region-specific products, like Champagne from its eponymous region in France, but could still impact kebab-shop owners, their individual recipes and their customers throughout Germany.
Under TurkeyB次元官网网址檚 proposal, beef would be required to come from cattle that is at least 16 months old. It would be marinated with specific amounts of animal fat, yogurt or milk, onion, salt, and thyme, as well as black, red and white peppers. The final product be sliced off the vertical spit into pieces that are 3 to 5 millimeters (0.1 to 0.2 inches) thick. Chicken would be similarly regulated.
The European Commission must decide by Sept. 24 whether 11 objections to the application, including from GermanyB次元官网网址檚 Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, have merit. If they do, Germany and Turkey will have up to six months to hammer out a compromise. The European Commission has the final say.
B次元官网网址淲e have taken note of the application from Turkey with some astonishment,B次元官网网址� GermanyB次元官网网址檚 Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture said in a statement to The Associated Press.
B次元官网网址淭he kebab is part of Germany, and the diversity of its preparation methods reflects the diversity of our country B次元官网网址� this must be preserved. In the interests of the many fans in Germany, we are committed to ensuring that the doner kebab can remain as it is prepared and eaten here,B次元官网网址� the ministry said.
It appears that vegetables, turkey and some veal kebabs B次元官网网址� all of which are popular in Germany B次元官网网址� would no longer be allowed under TurkeyB次元官网网址檚 application because it does not specifically mention them, causing confusion in the German food industry.
B次元官网网址淭he kebab belongs to Germany. Everyone should be allowed to decide for themselves how it is prepared and eaten here. ThereB次元官网网址檚 no need for guidelines from Ankara,B次元官网网址� Cem 脰zdemir, GermanyB次元官网网址檚 federal food and agriculture minister who also has Turkish roots, .
Buchholz of Kebap With Attitude said he isnB次元官网网址檛 worried about possible regulations.
Although he said it might be a way to keep the quality high for the traditional d枚ner kebab B次元官网网址� he believes it has lapsed in some places B次元官网网址� he added that shop owners might have to harness BerlinB次元官网网址檚 legacy of creative solutions to keep their expanded menus.
B次元官网网址淲e will go the Berlin way and weB次元官网网址檒l find a solution to name it different,B次元官网网址� he said, like calling it a B次元官网网址渧eggie sandwich.B次元官网网址�
D枚ner kebab impacts the political sphere, too. Anger over kebab costs that have risen into the double-digits led the Die Linke, the Left party, to ask German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for a B次元官网网址減rice breakB次元官网网址� that would have subsidized the street food and set a maximum price for customers. Scholz declined, but to explain that increasing food costs come in part from B次元官网网址� which are fueled by
And German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier engaged in B次元官网网址渄枚ner diplomacyB次元官网网址� when he brought a third-generation kebab-shop owner, as well as a full skewer of meat, to Turkey in April. The trip was the first official visit there by a German president in a decade, even as TurkeyB次元官网网址檚 populist president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is seen as having instincts. ErdoganB次元官网网址檚 reputation has made some Turkish citizens who own kebab shops in Germany fearful of speaking out against the proposed regulations for fear of facing reprisals when they go home.
In its objection, the German Hotel and Restaurant Association wrote that TurkeyB次元官网网址檚 proposals differ from typical German preparations for d枚ner, and that the regulations could lead to economic problems for kebab shops B次元官网网址� as well as potential legal challenges.
The German d枚ner kebab economy should not be held to Turkish rules, the association said in a statement.
B次元官网网址淭he diversity of the kebab must be preserved,B次元官网网址� the association said.
