Indignation is growing throughout Europe over bizarre proposals to give all slices of meat in a döner kebab exactly the same thickness.
Turkey has applied to grant its best-known food product the same EU protection as Italian Neapolitan pizza, Spanish Serrano ham and French champagne.
The country has demanded that there be very specific rules on how thin slices of doner meat should be, what the meat should consist of and that there should be a ‘certain standard’ for its production.
Turkey wants to register the name doner in Europe so that it can only be used by those who adhere to the registered production method and specifications.
If the proposal goes through the three-month process, it would mean an EU standard for what could be called döner kebab – something that restaurants and shops across Europe would then have to comply with.
Turkey Turkey has applied to grant its döner kebab the same EU protection as Italian Neapolitan pizza, Spanish Serrano ham and French champagne
Only large slices of beef and lamb ‘cut horizontally into cutlets 3 to 5 mm thick’ can be labeled as döner, while chicken cutlets for the poultry variety can be one to two cm thick.
Döner kebab, the classic meat dish, consists of thinly sliced cutlets of beef, lamb or chicken, which rotate on a stainless steel skewer over a fire and cook the meat as it rotates vertically on its axis.
Before the meat is put on the skewer, it is marinated in a mixture of yogurt, pepper, tomato paste, herbs, spices and salt.
According to local media, one of the reasons why Turkey wants the EU to protect the kebab is to preserve tradition, as the dish has developed during its journey to Europe.
According to the Association of Turkish Doner Producers in Europe, the doner economy in Europe is estimated to be worth as much as 3.5 billion euros.
Although somewhat linked to the EU’s quality system for Protected Designations of Origin, traditional specialties are not included in the Geographical Indications framework – which provides the highest level of protection for foods across Europe. Euro news reports.
This increased level of protection is given to products that have a direct link to a geographical area, which is not the case for the traditional cooking technique of döner meat.
It is also the reason why parma ham has been given geographical indications, while jamon serrano has only been given protected status.
The specialty food label has previously sparked controversy, including when the use of the traditional term ‘prosek’ for a Croatian desert wine was challenged by Italians for being too similar to Italian Prosecco.
As for the Turkish donor, complaints could be filed by neighboring country and cultural rival Greece.
“It is claimed that Greece was the first country in Europe where ‘Döner’ was introduced during a people exchange between Turkey and Greece in 1922. In Greece it is called ‘gyro’,” Turkey’s filing said.
A tense consultation phase has now begun that will last three months, during which countries will be able to challenge the application.
Opinions on the application are divided, with some considering the move a positive one, while others question the origins of the dish.
Many social media users shared the earliest known photo of the döner kebab from the Ottoman Empire, reiterating that it has always been a Turkish dish.
But others disagreed with the statement.
“Germany should file a counterclaim,” someone wrote on X, formerly Twitter.