Germany’s doner kebab becomes symbol of angst over rising costs
Germany’s doner kebab becomes symbol of angst over rising costs
“I can still remember when doner kebabs were sold for €3.50,” reminisced one teenager amid calls for a price brake to stop rising kebab costs.
“I can still remember when doner kebabs were sold for €3.50,” reminisced one teenager amid calls for a price brake to stop rising kebab costs.
The German capital is the birthplace of that ubiquitous European fast food, the doner kebab, and it shows.
Kebab shops line streets of many German cities, particularly in Berlin, and the scent of roasting, skewered meat is never far off.
Some two-million doner kebabs — meat wrapped in bread, topped with sauces and vegetables — are consumed a day in Germany, according to an industry association, quite a lot for a country of 83 million people. And the doner kebab has even supplanted the old stalwart, the currywurst — fried veal sausage topped with ketchup and curry powder — as the most popular fast-food dish in the country, according to a 2022 survey.
The local version of this in southern California is the Banh Mi, a Vietnamese sandwich on a baguette. Less than 10 years ago you could get a good banh mi for 3 or 4 bucks, and these days even the cheapest I've seen are $6.50 and many places are charging over $10 for this perfect sandwich. At least double in under 10 years :(
As a southern Californian, I measure inflation by the cost of tacos.
Inflation is out of control, despite whatever metrics the government uses. Tacos don't lie.
This thumbnail goes hard.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Some two-million doner kebabs — meat wrapped in bread, topped with sauces and vegetables — are consumed a day in Germany, according to an industry association, quite a lot for a country of 83 million people.
And the doner kebab has even supplanted the old stalwart, the currywurst — fried veal sausage topped with ketchup and curry powder — as the most popular fast-food dish in the country, according to a 2022 survey.
It’s become such an issue, that some politicians belonging to the far-left Die Linke, or the Left party, are calling for a “price brake” on the doner kebab.
“When young people demand: ‘Olaf, make the kebab cheaper,’ this is not an internet joke, but a serious call for help!” wrote Kathi Gebel, a member of the Left party’s executive committee, in a manifesto on the subject.
The calls for a price brake have become so frequent, that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz felt obliged to respond on TikTok.
Economists also warn that a doner price brake could also lead to a shortage of the kebabs — an unintended effect that could potentially create more unrest given the importance of the street food in German society.
The original article contains 765 words, the summary contains 194 words. Saved 75%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
We have them
It's still too cheap
I usually disregard this type of food wars, but the article using clear cut phrasing to attribute döner to Germany in 2 instances has quite triggered me as a Turkish person. I can shrug off the title if it was all there is to it, but what the hell of a British culture-stealing attempt is it to call Berlin the birthplace of döner, and it a European food coupled with that? If one did not know better, one would think that such a food being almost used as point to refuse Turkey's integration to EU a European cuisine.
What's next, our Kokoreç is a French food?