This chronicle tells the little or the big story behind our food, dishes or chefs. Powerful weapon soft power, A societal and cultural marker, food is the founding element of our civilizations. Conflicts, diplomacy, traditions, cuisine has always had a political dimension. Because, as Bossuet already said in the 17th century, “it is at the table that we govern”.
When he climbs with his kebab spit aboard the Bundeswehr Airbus A350, adorned with the German eagle, Arif Keles cannot help but think of the journey he and his family have taken. While his grandfather worked for years in a cast iron factory, before opening his own snack bar in 1986, here he is on the presidential plane with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German president, who has been performing since Monday 22 April, a symbolic three-day trip to Turkey.
The objective of the visit of the Head of State, whose functions are essentially protocolary, is to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. But also and above all to pay tribute to the close ties that have united their populations since 1960, when the Turks came to work in Germany. What could be better than packing this kebab owner, whose family has been present for three generations in Berlin, the world capital of this delicious sandwich?
During the official reception, Arif Keles will have the honor of serving meat from his spit on the banks of the Bosphorus in Istanbul. “I consider it a great mark of esteem to be able to be part of the journey,” he said. Its presence alone clearly illustrates how this simple pita bread stuffed with thin slices of lamb has become an emblem of gastronomy across the Rhine, which represents almost 7 billion euros in annual turnover! “The kebab has become a sort of national dish,” says an advisor to the German president who is part of the trip.
The kebab mentioned by a Burgundian spy
But how was the famous doner kebabwhich literally means rotating meat ? It all started in the Middle Ages, within the Ottoman Empire. The first mention of the famous “kebab” in a French text dates from 1430, reports Aïtor Alfonso, specialist in culinary issues and author of the comic strip. The hunger for history*. It comes from the Burgundian pilgrim and spy Bertrandon de la Broquière, who was moved by this little culinary revolution being written before his eyes: “the Turks made me eat roasted flesh […] and we sliced it while it roasted on a spit.” During the feasts given by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1539 in Istanbul, nearly 41 dishes were served including kebabs of mutton, chicken, lamb, peacock, partridges and quails… In the streets of Ottoman cities, the dish, savored with bread, began to make a name for itself.
It would be necessary to wait a few more centuries for the bright idea of reversing the spindle to emerge. The sources differ. Some experts say it was a restaurateur from Bursa, in northwest Turkey, who first tried vertical cooking in the late 19th century. Other historians rather believe in the technical contribution of gas burners, which appeared much later.
Born in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin?
The modern kebab, as we eat it today, took off in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Germany. Part of the Gastarbeiter, these foreigners “invited” to come and work in Germany since the 1950s, end up no longer having a job and decide to open their own shop. Several of them claim the authorship of this iconic fast-food dish.
His best-known figure: Mehmet Aygün, considered the father of the kebab, settled in the working-class district of Kreuzberg in Berlin after leaving the shores of the Black Sea. According to family legend, he was the first to have the idea of putting these strips in a round bread and adding a white sauce, a yogurt seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper. They quickly made a fortune and opened no fewer than six restaurants and several hotels.
The other “inventor” of the kebab, Kadir Nurman, a German born in Turkey, opened his first rotisserie in West Berlin in 1972. Although he did not make his fortune, due to lack of a patent, his contribution to the development of the kebab sandwich was recognized by the Association of Turkish Kebab Makers in 2011. History also remembers the name of Nevzat Salim, who is said to have started selling filled breads in 1969 in Reutlingen, in the southwest of Germany.
THE success stories German kebabs were numerous before the sandwich spread to many European countries, notably in Poland and France, where it was nicknamed “Greek”, due to the origin of the first Parisian sellers.
A symbol of Turkish integration
In Germany, scandals – like that of rotten meat in 2005 – where attempts to politically exploit the far right – which has made it the symbol of immigration – to tarnish its image will remain in vain. THE doner remains a symbol of Turkish integration, even if the social reality is much more contrasted.
If it is still popular in Germany to the point of making it one of the attractions of a presidential trip, chefs in Turkey are trying to make it somewhat forgotten…. Istanbul today has the ambition to become a stronghold of haute cuisine. The latest edition of the Turkish Michelin guide recognized 11 restaurants with one macaron and one establishment with two stars. This is the restaurant Turk of chef Fatih Tutak, who has become an icon in his country. On the plate: grilled lamb with fermented vegetable juice, mackerel confit with kaffir lime or even a börek with thin slices of poached artichoke, onion cream, salty cheese and caviar…
But today all these establishments remain unaffordable for the majority of the population. Galloping inflation – 68.5% in March over one year – is hitting the country led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In Istanbul, the kebab flirts with 300 pounds, the equivalent of 8 euros! For the first time in Turkey, a call for a boycott denouncing “the exorbitant prices” of cafes and restaurants was launched last weekend. What if after having been the symbol of integration in Germany, the kebab became the symbol of social discontent in Atatürk’s country?
*The hunger for history, volume 1, Aïtor Alfonso, Jul, Dargaud, 2023.
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