Berlin opposes Turkish push for doner kebab to have protected status

A spicy row has erupted between Turkey and Germany over what constitutes a doner kebab, with Berlin objecting to a Turkish push for protected status for the iconic snack.

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The humble doner, made with thinly sliced meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, has its origins in Turkey but is also beloved in Germany after being introduced there by Turkish migrants.

In April, the International Doner Federation (Udofed), based in Turkey, filed an application to the European Commission to grant the doner kebab Traditional Speciality Guaranteed status.

From the exact meat and spices to the thickness of the knife used to slice the meat, Udofed wants the definition of the doner to adhere to a strict list of criteria.

If successful, the application would bar businesses in the European Union from using the name “doner kebab” unless the item met the criteria, giving it the same protected status as Italy’s bufala mozzarella or Spain’s Serrano ham.

In its application, Udofed hails the doner’s origins from the Ottoman Empire, citing a recipe found in manuscripts dating from 1546.

But that has sparked an uproar in Germany, where the doner has become an emblem of the country’s large Turkish community, descended from “guest workers” invited under a massive economic programme in the 1960s and 1970s.

The German capital even claims that the doner kebab is “a Berlin invention”.