Kebab here and there

I haven't had the chance to feature a Döner Kebab yet, so when opportunity presented itself a few weeks ago in Melchendorf, I grabbed it gladly, with a welcoming stomach. Döners are pretty popular in Germany and run mainly by the Turkish community. 

Much like the burger we're all well-acquainted with, the dish is literally barbecued or grilled meat between two pieces of buns. Unlike the burger, though, the buns are much larger than the conventional burger - think over-sized burgers - and the meat that's in a Döner Kebab isn't a meat patty, rather loosely-minced meat held together by some sheer miracle of tastiness. Also unlike the burger, the buns aren't standard perfectly-formed breads, and are pan-grilled before being stuffed. 

In its native context, "Döner" means "spinning" and "Kebab" means grilled or roasted meat, earning this exotic "sandwich" the shorter nickname of "Döner". Once you see the meaning of its name, it makes absolute sense, then, to see why the meat in a Döner isn't in the form of a patty (at least, it's not supposed to be). Another common sight in a typical Döner restaurant is a steel glass cabinet of sorts that has a huge slab of meat stuck on it to be cooked over a fire at the bottom. Pieces of meat are sliced off this huge slab to be put into the buns. The buns' slightly misshapen shape now makes more sense - after all, if the meat doesn't have a fixed shape, why should its buns? 

Unfortunately, it was my first time at the Kurdischer Döner Kebab at the Melchendorfer Markt, so I couldn't quite ask for an estimate of how much meat there was to be put into each Kebab. To give you a clear estimate of how much you would be sinking your teeth into, however, I would ask you to imagine a super-sized burger bun sliced in the middle, and then stuffed with as much meat as is possible until it overflows. 

And overflow with stuffing mine was. 

For the uninitiated, a Döner Kebab doesn't just have its meat. On the contrary, it is a complete meal on its own; also stuffed within the confines of the buns is a full salad (with dressing too!) complete with salad, strips of cabbage, tomatoes and onions. 

I, for one, was pretty impressed with my Döner Kebab here. While the meat portion was generous, I could also say the same for the salad - which made my meal very, very filling indeed, and a little more than I had expected it to be. 

Remember that we're talking about a super-sized burger bread, so biting into it wasn't exactly an option for me - not that I didn't try, inspired by a male customer at the next table (it explains why the picture shows my ingredients strewn all over my plate). I would recommend actually using the cutlery provided, pretentious as it may look. Although it somewhat reduces the joy of diving into the ingredients, the plate (and table, I might add) won't look like a scene from a food fight. 

Portion - good. 

Ingredients - generous. 

Flavour - full. 

I managed to finish my Döner Kebab quite respectfully, and would like to possibly return to this particular Döner outlet to satisfy future Kebab cravings. 

Come join me, won't you?