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Döner kebab

Doner meat being sliced from a rotating spit. The iron heating-plate behind the spit is used to cook the meat.
Origin
Place of origin	Turkey
Region or state	Bursa, Erzurum, Erzincan and Kastamonu
Creator(s)	Disputed, dates to 18th century[1]
Details
Course	Snack or main course
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredient(s)	Lamb or chicken
Variations	Multiple

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Doner kebab (Turkish: döner kebabı) is a Turkish dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro ( /ˈjɪəroʊ/ YEER-oh, /ˈdʒaɪroʊ/ JY-roh,^[2] /ˈʒɪəroʊ/ ZHEER-oh;^[3] Greek: γύρος, [ˈʝiros], lit. 'turn'), shawarma,^[4][5] and al pastor (Spanish; "Shepherd style"). It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage. It is often served wrapped in a flatbread such as a pita or tortilla, and is a common fast food item in The Middle East, Europe, the Caucasus, North America and Australia.

In a prepared dish, seasoned meat is stacked on a vertical spit in the shape of an inverted cone. It is turned slowly, cooking against a vertical rotisserie. A tomato, onion or pineapple may be placed at the top of the stack for additional flavouring. The meat is cooked by charcoal, wood, cast iron, electric, or gas burner. If the meat is not fatty enough, strips of fat are added so that the roasting meat remains always moist and crisp. The rate of roasting can be adjusted by varying the strength of the heat and the distance between the heat and the meat, allowing the cook to adjust to varying rates of consumption. The outside of the meat is sliced vertically in thin, crisp shavings when done. While cooking, the meat is shaved off the stack with a large knife, an electric knife or a small circular saw, dropping to a circular tray below to be retrieved.

Toppings include tomato, onion, lettuce, lavash, tabbouleh, fattoush, eggplant, parsley, pickled gherkins, cabbage, pineapple, cucumber and pickled turnips. Sauces include tzatziki, yogurt, tahini, hummus, amba, salsa, hot sauce, garlic mayonnaise, toum (garlic sauce), pomegranate concentrate, lime juice, skhug (a hot chili sauce), tahini-based tarator, Turkish white cheese, or flavored with vinegar and spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

History [link]

Cağ kebabı, a related dish. Note that the meat is horizontally stacked.

Doner being carved in Bursa

İskender kebap

Before taking its modern form, as mentioned in Ottoman travel books of the 18th century,^[6][7] the doner used to be a horizontal stack of meat rather than vertical, probably sharing common ancestors with the Cağ Kebabı of the Eastern Turkish province of Erzurum.

In his own family biography, İskender Efendi of 19th century Bursa writes that "he and his grandfather had the idea of roasting the lamb vertically rather than horizontally, and invented for that purpose a vertical mangal".^[8] With time, the meat took a different marinade, got leaner, and eventually took its modern shape.^[7] The Greek gyro, along with the similar Arab Shawarma and Mexican Tacos al Pastor, are derived from this dish.^[9] There are several stories regarding the origins of gyros in Greece: One says that the first "gyrádiko" was "Giorgos" who brought gyros to Thessaloniki in 1900^{[citation needed]}; another legend from a meat production company states that döner was first introduced in the 1950s in Piraeus by a cook from Istanbul.

Doner kebab was invented by Mahmut Aygun (1922–2009) on 2 March 1971. Known as the "Kebab King" he was born in Turkey and moved to Germany at the age of 16 to open a snack stall. Doner kebab, consisting of roast lamb and spices, had traditionally been served with rice but in a moment of inspiration Aygun saw that the future lay in putting the meat inside a pita bread. That allowed customers who had been drinking to wander off into the night with their food and eat it as they stumbled home. The first of the new snacks was served on 2 March 1971, at Hasir, his restaurant in Berlin. It was called a doner kebab after the Turkish word "dondurmek" which means a rotating roast. Aygun went on to invent the yoghurt sauce often served with a doner kebab.^{[10][dubious – discuss]}

Names [link]

Doner kebab sandwich served in a thick pita (Turkish: pide).

A doner kebab is sometimes spelled döner kebap (the Turkish spelling), lit. 'rotating roast', or can be shortened to Doner (Turkish: döner), lit. 'turn around',^[11] also spelled "doener", "donair", "donar", "doner", or sometimes "donner". The term kebab in some countries refers specifically to doner kebab.

The name gyro comes from Greek γύρος ('turn'), a calque of the Turkish döner,^[12] a name which was used in Ecuador as well as ντονέρ [doˈner]^[13] The Greek pronunciation is [ˈʝiros], but the pronunciation in English is often /ˈdʒaɪroʊ/ or, occasionally /ˈɡɪəroʊ/ or /ˈjɪəroʊ/.^[14] The final 's' of the Greek form is often reinterpreted as a plural in English.

The word shawarma ( /ʃəˈwɑːrmə/) comes from the Turkish word çevirme [tʃeviɾˈme] 'turning', though the dish is usually called döner kebab 'turning kebab' in Turkish. In Greek, it was formerly called ντονέρ /doˈner/, and now called gyros 'turned'; in Armenian, it is "tarna", literally meaning "to turn".

Al pastor is a dish developed in Central Mexico, likely as a result of the adoption of the shawarma spit-grilled meat brought by Lebanese immigrants to Mexico.^[15] Having derived from the shawarma, it is also similar to the Turkish doner kebab and the Greek gyro]. Döner kebabs are almost all made from lamb and beef as are gyros. Al Pastor in Mexico usually consists of pork. Some gyros and döner kebab places offer chicken varieties as well.

Regional variations [link]

Africa [link]

Tunisia [link]

In Tunisia, shawarma is a very popular imported dish. There are different fast foods which propose to serve the Tunisian maqloub which is a local version of the shawarma. In that one, the Tunisians add the different spices and sauces. The only difference is in the spices and techniques used, which are jealously held secret by every chef. The meat (chicken, lamb, turkey or beef) is served inside the typical Tunisian bread (called "tabuna") or inside the more middle-eastern pita-like bread, together with a wide variety of flavors and some vegetables: garlic sauce, chick-pea sauce, local meshuya (a salad made out of grilled capsicum, tomatoes and garlic), cheese, tomatoes, onions, lettuce and fried chips. Each customer chooses his own flavors when ordering his shawarma. The shawarma or maqloub must be garnished with the Tunisian pepper puree called harissa or mayonnaise.

West Africa [link]

In West Africa, shawarma was introduced by Middle Eastern migrants (spelled chawarma in Francophone countries) and is a popular street food. In Nigeria, shawarma is usually served in Lebanese restaurants, and they are a popular delicacy among Arabs, Nigerians and Indians. If prepared by Nigerians, they consist mainly of beef, or chicken, cabbage, tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and chili, differentiating them from those of the Arab-based recipes.

Caucasus, Middle East and Asia [link]

Palestine and Israel [link]

In Palestine and Israel, shawarma (Hebrew: שווארמה‎) is a street food and offered in meat restaurants.The dish has become ubiquitous.^[16] It was most commonly made of lamb in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, a switch was made in favor of turkey or chicken. After 2000, lamb/veal mix began to appear, though turkey shawarma remains the most common by far. Often the rotating skewer is placed at the front of the fast-food stand, exposed to the street. Shawarma is served in a pita or a lafa and is usually eaten with salad, hummus or French fries. In Jerusalem, the lafa is called 'esh tanur'. One of the condiments in demand is amba.^[17][18]

Turkey [link]

There are many variations in Turkey:

• Porsiyon ("the Portion", doner on a slightly heated plate, sometimes with a few grilled peppers or broiled tomatoes on the side)^[19][20]
• Pilavüstü ("Ricetop", doner served on a base of pilaf rice that gets tastier as the fat in the meat drips into the rice)^[21][22]
• İskender (specialty of Bursa, served in an oblong plate, atop a base of thin pita, complete with a dash of pepper or tomato sauce and boiling fresh butter)^[23][24]
• Dürüm, wrapped in a thin lavaş that is sometimes also grilled after being rolled, to make it crispier. It has two main variants in mainland Turkey:^[25]
  • Soslu dürüm (speciality of Ankara, contains İskender sauce, making it juicier)
  • Kaşarlı dürüm döner (speciality of Istanbul, grated kaşar cheese is put in the wrap which is then toasted to melt the cheese and crisp up the Lavash)^[26]
• Tombik or gobit (literally "the Fatty", doner in a bun-shaped pita, with crispy crust and soft inside, and generally less meat than a dürüm)^[27]
• Ekmekarası ("in a bread", generally the most filling version, consisting of a whole (or a half) regular Turkish bread filled with doner)^[28]

Europe [link]

Austria [link]

Doner kebab shops can be found in all cities across Austria. Kebabs (rarely referred to as "Döner") outsell burgers or the traditional Würstel (sausage) stands.^[29] The range of doner is similar to other German speaking countries, but one is more likely to find a chicken kebab in central Vienna than lamb or beef kebab.

Finland [link]

In Finland, kebabs have gained a lot of popularity since Turkish immigrants opened restaurants and imported their own traditional food (albeit modified to suit Finnish taste as in Germany, e.g. replacing lamb with beef in most cases). This popularity is apparent when perusing choices of cuisine, especially in larger cities. Kebab foods are generally regarded as fast food, often served in late-night restaurants also serving pizza. However, recently kebab restaurants have begun to appear in shopping malls and in the form of proper high street restaurants as well.^[30] There are at least 1122 currently active restaurants that serve kebab foods^[31] in Finland. Furthermore, there is on average one kebab restaurant for every 5222 people in mainland Finland.^[32] Beef is predominantly used instead of lamb because Finns are familiar with the taste and consume beef significantly more than lamb, which also means that it is cheaper and more readily available. Some doners can be a mix of lamb and beef. Unlike in Central Europe, where kebabs are made from whole cuts of meat, practically all available kebab in Finland is made from ground meat. Often restaurants do not prepare the meat themselves, but use processed ready-made pieces instead.

Germany [link]

A version developed to suit German tastes by Turkish immigrants in Berlin has become one of Germany's most popular fast food dishes. Annual sales in Germany amount to 2.5 billion euros.^[33] Veal and chicken are widely used instead of lamb, particularly by vendors with large ethnic German customer bases, for whom lamb is traditionally less preferred.

Döner, common German style (Berlin)

Döner kebab in a dürüm

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 yogurt (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 kebab mit pommes. This is similar to an ordinary döner kebab, except that it has French fries instead of the salad. 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 (Türkische Pizza). When plain dough is used (without the typical Lahmacun spices and minced meat) the rolled kebab is called "dürüm döner" or "döner yufka."

Tarkan Tasyumruk, president of the Association of Turkish Doner Producers in Europe (ATDID), provided information in 2010 that, every day, more than 400 tonnes of döner kebab meat is produced in Germany by around 350 firms. At the same ATDID fair, Tasyumruk stated that 'Annual sales in Germany amount to 2.5 billion euros. That shows we are one of the biggest fast-foods in Germany'. In many cities throughout Germany, "Döner" (as it is usually called) is at least as popular as hamburgers or sausages, especially with young people.^[33]

Germany's large Turkish minority is probably the biggest reason for the widespread sale of döner kebab sandwiches there: from the late 60s on, large numbers of Turks were invited to come to Germany as guest workers, to fill a then acute labour shortage caused by the Wirtschaftswunder after the war. Most 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. The link between Turks and döner kebab shops in Germany is so strong that the wave of neo-Nazi murders of immigrants that took place there in 2000–2006 was dubbed the "döner murders" by the German press.^[34]

Norway [link]

In Norway, the kebab was introduced by Turkish and Arab immigrants during the 1980s. It soon became a very popular meal after a night out, gaining a cult status among young people during the 1990s^{[citation needed]} . The kebab has become a symbol of immigration from the Muslim world, and speaking Norwegian with an Arab accent or with a lot of words and expressions borrowed from the Turkish, Arabic, Persian and Punjabi languages is sometimes referred to as "Kebabnorsk" (Kebab Norwegian).

The kebabs in Norway are served in a variety of ways, commonly in fast-food shops selling both hamburgers and kebabs. The kebab roll has become increasingly popular, with the kebab not served in pita bread, but rather wrapped in pizza dough (making it look like a spring roll) for easy consumption. The most "Norwegian" kebab to date is probably the whalemeat kebab sold at the Inferno Metal Festival. As of 2008, the average price of the kebab in Norway lies around 65 kroner, or about €8. In Bergen the average price of a kebab is around 50 kr. In Bergen kebab is most commonly served in the dürüm variety, with two types of sauces, one standard and one optional hot chili variety.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority in 2007 issued a warning about cheap kebabs. According to Verdens Gang they estimated that more than 80% of kebab shops selling kebab in Oslo use illegally produced meat. It was warned that such meat could be dangerous to eat because it could contain salmonella or other bacteria, and that it could be connected to organised crime.^[35]

Shawarma sandwich

United Kingdom [link]

Döner kebab served in a partitioned tray.

• The doner kebab with salad and sauce is a very popular dish in the United Kingdom, especially after a night out. The typical kebab shop in the UK will offer hot chilli sauce and garlic yoghurt-style sauce, and in different regions may also offer barbecue sauce, burger sauce, lemon juice, mayonnaise, or a mint sauce similar to raita. Sometimes a customer can ask for a mild, a medium or a hot sauce but it is not made clear what the ingredients are. There are several common ways in which doner kebabs are served in the UK:

• Wrapped in pita bread
• Roti
• On naan bread
• Served as a dish of "doner meat (or chicken doner meat) and chips", typically including salad
• Served as Doner/Chicken/Mixed Meat with (Grated) Cheese instead of Pita bread, not usually with salad unless requested
• Served on a pizza base, known as a kebab pizza
• Often preferred to be garnished with a range of sauces such as tomato ketchup, mayonnaise, chilli sauce, mint or garlic sauce.
• Served in Pizza dough also known as a calazone with chilli and garlic butter and cheese.

The UK doner kebab often uses a different mixture of spices. Menus typically offer doner, shish (lamb, pork or chicken)^[36] and kofte kebabs, with a "special" including portions of each sometimes with bread and French fries or chips. "Doner meat" is often also offered as a pizza or burger topping in many such establishments. In Northern Ireland Doner kebab is most popular served on chips, Steak doner and house sauce is popular, while others prefer garlic mayonnaise.

The "late night kebab" has become an icon of urban food culture in the United Kingdom, with kebabs often purchased and consumed following a night of drinking. Kebabs are considered suitable following consumption of alcohol due their high content of lipids (fats) which aids in metabolism of alcohol. It is also common to add lettuce, onion, tomato or cheese on top.

The Americas [link]

Brazil [link]

Doner kebab is one of the most popular fast-food dishes on São Paulo streets. It is usually served as a sandwich, and it is called "Churrasco Grego", which means "Greek Barbecue", or much less frequently Churrasco Turco (Turkish Steak). It is not associated with the kebab/gyro in fashion districts. It is served in Porto Alegre, Foz do Iguaçu where it is sold as Arabic fast-food.

Canada [link]

A variation on the doner kebab known as donair was introduced in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in the early 1970s. Peter Gamoulakos immigrated to Canada, from Greece in 1959.^[37] When he failed in his attempt to sell Greek gyros, Gamoulakos adapted the dish to local tastes. He substituted beef for lamb and created a sweet sauce in place of tzatziki.^[38] He invented the donair in 1972 and it debuted at King of Donair's Quinpool Road location in 1973.^[39]

A King of Donair outlet in Halifax at Pizza Corner.

The donair has gained popularity throughout the Atlantic provinces of Canada, and is also available in some other areas of the country, particularly Alberta and Southern Ontario, with many fast food pizza restaurants also featuring donairs on the menu. Halifax donair meat is sliced from a loaf cooked on a vertical spit, made from a combination of ground beef, flour or bread crumbs, and various spices. The sauce is distinctively sweet compared to doner kebabs, being made from evaporated milk, sugar, vinegar, and garlic. The meat and sauce are served rolled in a flatbread pita with diced tomato and diced onion. While not included on "original" donairs, some restaurants add lettuce and/or cheese as well.Many Atlantic Canadian restaurants offer a donair pizza featuring all of the donair ingredients served on a pizza crust. Donair subs are also not uncommon. In Atlantic Canada you can also find donair meat used in offerings such as donair sausage, donair egg rolls (an egg roll casing stuffed with donair meat), donair pogos (donair meet on a stick, battered and deep-fried, similar to a corn dog), donair calzones/panzerottis, and in donair poutine (French fries topped with cheese curds, donair meat and gravy. Donair Sauce is used instead of gravy for 'Donair Plate'). Donair sauce is used as a dipping sauce for garlic fingers and pizza in Atlantic Canada.In the summer of 2008, after numerous cases of E. coli related food poisoning due to the consumption of undercooked donair meat in Alberta, the federal government came out with a set of guidelines for the preparation of donairs.^[40] The principal guideline was that the meat should be cooked at least twice: once on the spit, and then grilled as the donair is being prepared. Many Atlantic Canadian establishments already did this, however, some restaurants in Alberta omitted the grilling step.

Cayman Islands [link]

Doner kebab is available in Georgetown, Grand Cayman with a Caribbean flair. The meat is cooked on the traditional vertical spit, and the kebab is served on flat bread with a variety of sauces, including garlic and mango pepper sauce.

Colombia [link]

In the numerous Middle Eastern restaurants in Barranquilla, Shawarma is a light meal: other main courses have heartier portions.

Costa Rica [link]

In Costa Rica, shawarmas have become popular thanks to a small restaurant in the entrance to Heredia owned by Lebanese immigrants.

Ecuador [link]

In Ecuador, shawarma is a popular snack or light meal with vendors found all over the main metropolitan areas specially Urdesa, Guayaquil and La Mariscal, Quito. They were introduced by the Middle Eastern immigrant population.

Mexico [link]

Tacos al pastor being cut from the spit

A similar dish is served in Mexico known as tacos al pastor or "tacos de trompo". The cooking is different from that of the kebab. The meat is cooked and then sliced into a corn tortilla. They can be found all over Mexico, especially in street corners. They are not new to Mexico, and it is unknown if there is a direct relationship with the Turkish Kebab. In Puebla, this was introduced by the numerous Middle-Eastern immigrants, mostly from Lebanon and Syria, but also Turkey and Iraq, in the early 1920s.^[41] Since then, it has become a traditional dish of the city, locally known as taco árabe, "Arabian taco", sold in taquerías orientales, "[Middle-]Eastern taco stands".^[42] Nonetheless, it is now usually made with beef and lamb and served either in pitas –locally called pan árabe, "Arabian bread"–, leavened bread –locally called torta árabe, "Arabian baguette", also called cemita–, or simply in flour tortillas. It is usually accompanied tahini and labneh –locally called jocoque–^[43] even though the skhug (or kharif) has been replaced with a thick chipotle-garlic sauce.^[44] In other parts of the country, most notably in Mexico City, the dish has adapted to the Mexican cuisine by replacing the pita with corn tortillas, in what is now called a taco al pastor, "shepherd taco".^[44] Unlike a taco árabe, the taco al pastor is served with pineapple, cilantro, chopped onions and green or red salsa, and marinated with annatto sauce. Regardless of local adaptations, authentic middle eastern shawarma is available in the many middle eastern restaurants and kosher taquerias that cater to the large Mexican Lebanese and Mexican Sephardim communities. German style Doner Kebab can be found too but is not common, although is gaining popularity.

In some places of Northern Mexico, such as Nuevo Leon, Durango, Chihuahua, these are usually called Tacos de Trompo if served on maize flour tortillas, and gringas if they are served on wheat flour tortillas with cheese.

A similar dish is called Tacos Árabes, which originated in Puebla in the 1930s from Lebanese-Mexican cuisine. Tacos Árabes use shawarma-style meat carved from a spit, but are served in a pita bread called pan arabe. These tacos have been brought by Mexican immigrants to the United States in the past few years and have become popular in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, the two largest Mexican and Mexican-American population centers in the United States.^[45]

Paraguay [link]

Shawarma is known in Paraguay as a popular fast-food and it's called lomito árabe (Arabian steak), there are more than two chains fast-food restaurants that sells them as the main product with other typical middle-east food.

United States [link]

Americanized gyro meat, unwrapped

In the United States, doner kebab is not widely known, except in some larger cities with a strong Mideastern immigrant community, e.g., Boston, Detroit, New York,^[46] Leesburg, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.),^[47] Chicago,^[48] Seattle,^[49] San Diego,^[50] and Los Angeles.^[51] In contrast, gyros, considered Greek food, are popular across the U.S., and frequently are found at mobile stands as fair food as well as at Greek- and Italian-style pizza and sandwich shops.

Gyros were introduced to the United States via Chicago between 1965 and 1968.^{[52][53][54][55]}

Several people claim to have brought gyros to Chicago and been the first to mass produce them. George Apostolou claims he served the first gyros at the Parkview Restaurant in 1965. In 1974, he opened a 3,000-square-foot (280 m²) manufacturing plant called Central Gyros Wholesale. Peter Parthenis claims he mass produced them at Gyros Inc., in 1973, a year before Apostolou.^[52] In 1968, at The Parthenon restaurant, Chris Liakouras developed an early version of the modern vertical rotisserie gyros cooker, and popularized gyros by passing out samples free to customers.^[56] The vertical broiler was later refined by Tom Pappas and others at Gyros incorporated. Pappas would go on to develop the modern commercial recipe for gyros in the United States, achieving success as an independent manufacturer of gyros in Florida during the early 1980s, and popularizing it in the southeastern US (Orlando Sentinel, 1981).

They have since spread to all parts of the country, but the gyro is still identified as part of Chicago's working class cuisine.

The name gyros is most commonly used in American and Greek-American restaurants and stores. Doner kebab and shawarma may be seen in Middle Eastern-style establishments.

In the United States, gyros are made from lamb or a combination of beef and lamb. Chicken gyros are sometimes seen as well. The bread served with gyros in the U.S. resembles a Greek 'plain' pita. The traditional accompaniments are tomato, onion, and tzatziki, sometimes called cucumber, yogurt, or white sauce. Some establishments use plain sour cream in lieu of tzatziki sauce. Such sandwiches are often served in luncheonettes or diners.

While some Greek restaurants in America make gyros in a traditional way from sliced meat arranged on a vertical rotisserie,^{[citation needed]} most, particularly fast-food restaurants, use mass-produced gyros loaves, of finely ground meat pressed into a cylinder and cooked on a rotating vertical spit, from which thin slices of meat are shaved as they brown. Some restaurants even sell pre-formed, frozen strips of ground gyros meat, grilled or pan-fried individually, to prevent waste. The ground meat forms of gyros are as different from traditional gyros as sausage is from solid meat, and the traditional gyro is usually considered to have better taste and texture than the mass-produced ground-loaf form.

Venezuela [link]

In Venezuela, shawarma is commonly seen on the streets of major cities at food business stands. Shawarma carts have become as popular in Venezuela at food business stands as the common empanada. The same stands that sell chawarmas sell the vegetarian falafel as well.

Oceania [link]

Australia [link]

In Australia, doner kebabs are very popular due to immigration from Greece, Turkey, the former Yugoslavia and Lebanon. Many consider them to be a healthier alternative to traditional fast food. In Australian shops or stalls, Greek style kebabs are called souvlaki in Victoria or gyros, yeeros, or yiros in South Australia and New South Wales. "Doner kebab" is the Turkish name. Meat (beef or lamb) and chicken kebabs can be found in Sydney and Melbourne where many suburbs have take-away shops that offer them. They are optionally served with cheese and a salad consisting of lettuce, tomato, onion, and tabouli on either pita bread (also known in some areas as Lebanese bread) or using thicker but still quite flat Turkish breads. These are sliced in half with the filling placed in between the slices, rather than wrapped, as is common with pita/pide breads.

A kebab snackpack with lamb and chicken served with cheese and various sauces

The most commonly used sauces are tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, hummus (made with chickpeas), yoghurt and garlic sauce (Greek:tzatziki, Turkish: cacik) and chili or sweet chilli sauce. Doner kebabs in Sydney and Melbourne can be served with all the ingredients placed onto or next to the pita bread on a plate, or more commonly, with the ingredients rolled into the pita bread in the form of a "wrap". There are two primary ways to serve the wrapped version. It can be toasted in a sandwich press, which has the effect of melting any cheese, heating the meat and baking the bread so that it becomes crisp. It can also be served without toasting.

In Canberra, the bread with filling is passed underneath a grill for a minute. The sandwich is then wrapped in paper to stop the filling from falling out and usually placed in a foil/paper sleeve. This variety is also available in New Zealand. In Brisbane, kebabs are influenced by the Turkish variation. They are invariably served in a pita wrap and toasted in a sandwich press for about a minute before being inserted into a foil or paper sleeve. The main meats available are chicken or lamb. Shops or vans selling kebabs are colloquially referred to as "Kebaberies" and "Kebabavans" in some parts of Australia. Kebab meat can also be found as a pizza topping in the western suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, as a "beef pizza" or "Turkish pizza".

The "late night kebab" has become an icon of urban food culture in Australia, with kebabs often purchased and consumed following a night of drinking. Kebabs are considered suitable following consumption of alcohol due their high content of lipids (fats) which aids in metabolism of alcohol. Another variation found commonly in the western suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne is the "snack pack" or "meat box". This is a take-away box with a layer of chips, kebab meat and sauce on top. It is also common to add lettuce, onion, tomato or cheese on top.

The "dodgy kebab", often blamed for food poisoning should be a thing of the past. Since NSW food safety best practice recommended a second cooking of kebab meat. Most stores have adopted this measure and it is now common practice in Australia. Second cooking requires that meat sliced from the doner is cooked on the hotplate/grill to 60 °C just before serving.^[57] Previously, "Dodgy kebab" meat was often sliced from the doner, including some not yet fully heated/cooked meat, at the time of ordering or meat that had been sliced and sat waiting at the bottom of the doner for indiscernible length of time.

Health concerns [link]

Doner kebab is popular in many countries in the form of fast food, often as an end to a night out when preceded by the consumption of an excess of alcohol.^[58] Health concerns surrounding doner kebab in the UK and Western Europe, including the hygiene involved in overnight storage and re-heating of partially cooked meat, unacceptable salt and fat levels, and improper labeling of meat used (e.g., illicit addition of pork), are repeatedly reported in the European media.^{[58][59][60][61]}

See also [link]

	Turkey portal
	Food portal

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Doner kebab

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Doner kebab

• Mexican cuisine
• Greek cuisine
• Arab cuisine
• Adobada
• Cağ kebab, Horizontal Doner Kebab from Erzurum
• Iskender kebap, doner served with tomato sauce and yoghurt.
• Kebab van
• List of kebabs
• Shish taouk, a similar dish made with chicken
• Dürüm
• Souvlaki
• Taco
• Yakitori
• List of sandwiches

References [link]