Although its origins are middle-eastern,
Donner Kebabs are particularly popular in Europe. As with the Arabic “
Shawama”, it’s a form of fast food made from meat rosted on a skewer.
In case you have never seen a kebab shop – you can recognise it by the huge lump ground meat that roasts as it rotates. As the meat cooks, the chef shaves it off into pita or naan bread. Normally raw vegetables like onion, cabbage, tomatoes and mild chilli peppers are added to pad it out. In England, donner kebabs are usually garnished with a spicy chilli or mint sauce.
The cylinders of ground meat are often joking referred to as “elephant's legs”. That’s not just a joke about the size of the raw kebab, but about the origin of the meat.
Most donner kebabs in the UK make for poor eating. The quality of the meat tends to be dubious – ground meat can often contain all sorts of mechanically reclaimed animal protein. If the meat has not all been sold by closing time, many kebab shops keep it for the next day. Cooling and heating the meat repeatedly is bad food hygiene.
It’s not all bad news. As people develop a taste for better food, the chicken donner and the Shawama kebab are becoming more popular. In a few years I would hope that all but the worst kebab shops have upgraded.
You might also read about some other kebab shop classics like the Kofte Kebab or the Shish Kebab.