Doner kebab

Döner served at a restaurant in Ankara, Turkey.

A "dürüm döner" wrapped in lavaş flat bread.

The doner kebab (or from Turkish Döner kebab, but seldom döner) is a Turkish dish. A Doner can be made from lamb, chicken or beef. It is cooked on a vertical rotisserie then thinly sliced. When bought from kebab shops it usually comes with salad or french fries.

Traditionally Turkish restaurants offer hot chili sauce and garlic yoghurt-style sauce. Barbecue sauce, burger sauce, lemon juice, or a mint sauce similar to raita are also popular.

Doners are often eaten as take-away food on the way home after a night out. There are several common ways in which doner kebabs are served.

• Wrapped in pita bread (the most common)
• On pita bread
• Served as a dish of "doner meat" (and maybe chips), typically including salad
• Often preferred to be garnished with a range of sauces such as tomato ketchup, mayonnaise, chili sauce, mint or garlic sauce.

Despite its Turkish origin Döner is very popular in Germany. The Döner was introduced to the Germans in the 1970s.

In the UK

Döner is not considered a "kebap" in Turkey. The various döner dishes, including iskender are listed on a separate page in the menu of a Turkish restaurant in Ankara. The "kebap" dishes have a separate page.

Kebabs are very much part of the Friday and Saturday night culture in the UK rather than breakfast or lunchtime food. UK doner kebab often uses a different mixture of spices, because immigrants from Northern Cyprus run many of the shops. They may offer doner, shish (lamb and chicken) and kofte kebabs, with a 'special' including some of each with bread and chips.