Turkey started a battle over doner kebab as it wants to register the name "doner kebab" in the European Union so it can only be used by those who comply with the patented production method and the strict specifications. European restaurateurs are furious with the Turkish proposals as the doner market in Europe is estimated to be worth a staggering 3.5 billion euros!
Eva Metis Koutoumanou
Turkey has filed an application to register its most famous specialty, doner kebab, in the European Union, following the footsteps of Italian Neapolitan pizza, Spanish serrano ham and French champagne. European restaurateurs are furious with the Turkish proposal to impose all doner slices to be cut "horizontally... with a thickness of 3 to 5mm"!
Ankara called for 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" in its production.
Turkey wants to register the name doner kebab in Europe so that it can only be used by those who comply with the patented production method and specifications it proposes.
If the proposal manages to pass the three-month process of European bureaucracy, it will mean there will be a single EU standard for what can now be called doner kebab – something restaurants and shops across the European Union will have to adhere to.
Only large slabs of beef and lamb "horizontally cut into pieces 3 to 5 millimeters thick" will be able to qualify as doner, while chicken chips can be between one and two centimeters thick.
Doner kebab, the classic meat dish, consists of finely sliced slices of beef, lamb, or chicken, spinning on a stainless steel spit over the fire, cooking the meat as it rotates vertically around its axis. Before being placed on the spit, the meat is marinated in a mixture of yogurt, pepper, tomato paste, herbs, spices and salt.
One of the reasons why Turkey wants to protect the kebab from the EU is to preserve the Turkish culinary tradition, as the dish has evolved during its "journey" to Europe.
The doner market in Europe is estimated to be worth a staggering 3.5 billion euros, according to the Association of Turkish Doner Producers in Europe.
Although somewhat linked to the EU's quality system of protected designations of origin, traditional specialities are not included in the geographical indications framework – which offers the highest level of protection for food in the whole of Europe.
This increased level of protection is granted to products directly related to a geographical area, which has not, so far, been the case for the traditional doner cooking technique.
