Doner Kebap and its History
It is assumed that kebab was consumed as early as the cooking fire was discovered. Kabuba, in Sumerian language, translates to cooking on ember while in the Arabic language it means to fry meat. The cooking type has evolved since and in Turkey it is now understood as grilling or broiling meat vertically using a skewer or stick.
It is claimed by most anthropologists that Nomadic tribesmen used to grill their meats using their swords as skewer. Then on a book from the 18th century, it was referred to as a stack of meat grilled horizontally. And in the 1860s another version came out where kebab was already grilled vertically and served in thin slices. Doner kebap or rotating kebab has been a trademark cuisine which evolves through a series of generation of cooking.
Doner Kebap Variations
There are many variations of the doner dishes and the list provided below only mentions the most common ones. These are the type of doner kebap dishes you might want to try while in Turkey – you can eat these on the street or in a restaurant.
Doner Kebap can be served in many different ways depending on the ingredients. Lamb meat, lamb and beef or even chicken are the most common ingredients used when preparing doner kebap. If you ordered a doner kebap in a restaurant, it usually comes in a plated meal of rice or fried potatoes with salad as a side dish. Recently, it also evolved as one of the most patronized fast-food dish and you can order it as a pide sandwich. Pide is one of Turkey’s traditional thick bread like the pita.
Doner Durum is another delicious variation of how doner meat is served. It is wrapped in thin loaves of bread, very much like the tortilla, which are called lavas. You can then add optional ingredients such as fried potatoes, green salad, pickles or even a hot tomato sauce. You have the option to add or skip some of these according to your preference. There is another type of durum where it used grilled minced meat against a wide skewer but still wrapped in lavas. You can order different variations and it will surely taste good.
Iskender Kebap or also known as the Bursa Kebabi is another dish using doner meat. The meat is served using pieces of pide. There is a side dressing of butter and yogurt. You can add tomato sauce for dressing if you prefer.
There are many kinds of doner dishes and all are exceptionally delicious, no wonder it is loved by food lovers all over the world especially Toronto.