Turkish chefs prepare kebabs for customers at a kebab restaurant in Berlin, Germany, on Wednesday.
Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
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Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
BERLIN — Beef and chicken glisten as they slowly rotate on vertical spits before being sliced into thin strips. Two cooks glide from a sizzling griddle to a hot toaster in a controlled dance. Mounds of fresh tomatoes, cabbage and red onions glow in a colorful tableau.
The scene at Kebap With Attitude in Berlin’s trendy Mitte district is typical of any street food stall or restaurant, where cooks pile ingredients into pita bread to create the city’s beloved döner kebab.
But the snack’s status could be under threat if the European Commission approves Turkey’s proposal to regulate what can legally be called a doner kebab.
At stake is an industry that generates annual sales of about 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 Doner Producers in Europe.
“From the government to the streets, everyone eats doner kebab,” says Deniz Buchholz, owner of Kebap With Attitude, as waiters carry steaming orders from the kitchen to hungry customers at lunchtime on a rainy Monday afternoon.
The word “doner” comes from the Turkish verb “dönmek,” which means “to turn.” The meat is grilled for hours on a spit and sliced when it becomes crispy and golden. In Turkey, the dish was originally made with lamb and sold only on a plate. But in the 1970s, Turkish immigrants in Berlin chose to serve it in a pita and modified the recipe to make it special for Berliners.
“They understood that Germans love everything that is in bread,” says Buchholz, who grew up in Berlin and has Turkish roots. “So they decided to put this food in bread and that’s how the Berlin-style doner kebab was born.”
In April, Turkey requested that its doner kebab be protected by a status called “guaranteed traditional speciality.” This status falls short of the popular “protected designation of origin” that applies to products specific to a geographical region, such as Champagne from its namesake region in France, but could still impact kebab shop owners, their individual recipes and their customers across Germany.
Under the Turkish proposal, beef would have to come from cattle that are 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 pepper. The final product would be cut into pieces 3 to 5 millimeters thick. Chicken would be subject to similar regulations.
The European Commission must decide by September 24 whether the 11 objections to the application, including those from the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, are well-founded. If so, Germany and Turkey will have up to six months to reach a compromise. The European Commission will have the final say.
“We noted Turkey’s request with some surprise,” Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture said in a statement to The Associated Press.
“The kebab is part of Germany and the diversity of its preparation methods reflects the diversity of our country. It must be preserved. In the interest of the many fans in Germany, we are committed to ensuring that the döner kebab can remain as it is prepared and consumed here,” the ministry said.
It appears that vegetables, turkey and some veal kebabs, all very popular in Germany, would no longer be allowed in Turkey’s application, as it does not specifically mention them, creating confusion in the German food industry.
“The kebab belongs to Germany. Everyone should be able to decide for themselves how it is prepared and eaten here. There is no need for directives from Ankara,” wrote Cem Özdemir, Germany’s Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, also of Turkish origin, on the social platform X.
Buchholz of Kebap With Attitude said he was not worried about possible regulations.
While he said it could be a way to maintain the high quality of the traditional doner kebab – he believes that quality has fallen out of fashion in some places – he added that shop owners may have to tap into Berlin’s legacy of creative solutions to maintain their expanded menus.
“We will follow Berlin’s path and find a solution to give it a different name,” he said, as if calling it a “veggie sandwich.”
The doner kebab is also having repercussions in the political sphere. Anger over the double-digit price of kebabs led the left-wing Die Linke party to ask German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for a “price cut” that would have subsidized street food and set a maximum price for customers. Scholz refused, but took to social media to explain that the increase in food prices is partly due to rising energy costs, fueled by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier demonstrated “doner diplomacy” by bringing a third-generation kebab shop owner and a skewer of meat to Turkey in April. It was the first official visit by a German president to the country in a decade, even as Turkey’s populist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen as increasingly authoritarian. Erdogan’s reputation has made some Turkish citizens who own kebab shops in Germany wary of speaking out against the proposed regulations for fear of reprisals when they return home.
In its objection, the German Hotel and Restaurant Association wrote that Turkey’s proposals differ from typical German doner preparations and that the regulation could lead to economic problems for kebab shops, as well as possible legal challenges.
Germany’s doner kebab economy should not be subject to Turkish rules, the association said in a statement.
“We must preserve the diversity of kebabs,” the association emphasizes.
