Kadir Nurman
Kadir Nurman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1933 |
| Died | October 2013 |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Known for | introduction of döner kebab fast food sandwich |
Kadir Nurman (c.1933 – 24 October 2013)[1] was a Turkish-born German restaurateur, widely credited with having in 1972 West Berlin introduced or "invented" the fast food sandwich known as a kebab or Döner, consisting of traditional Turkish döner kebab meat, served with mixed salad in a flatbread.[2][3] Nurman received a lifetime achievement award from the Association of Turkish Döner Manufacturers in 2011.[3] Afterwards, Nurman told the German magazine Frankfurter Rundschau that he was unhappy with modern döner kebab sandwiches, as "there are too many ingredients" in them.[2]
Several people have claimed to have been the "inventor of the döner kebab" in Germany, but such claims are widely considered inaccurate.[4] The familiar rotating döner kebab meat, roasted on a vertical spit, has been well-known in Turkey since the mid-1800s. Its invention is generally credited to İskender Efendi of Bursa.[5] It has been sold in sandwich form in Istanbul since at least the mid-1960s,[6] and the gyro (the Greek version of the Turkish döner kebab) was already a popular sandwich item in New York City by 1971.[7] Nurman himself did not claim to be the first person to have sold a sandwich of döner kebab meat, saying in German: "Maybe someone else also did it, in some hidden corner, but no one noticed. The kebab became well-known through me."[8] Nevertheless, it was the distinctive style developed and popularized through Nurman's prototypical kebab shop, and others like it in Berlin's Turkish Gastarbeiter community, that went on to become one of the top-selling fast food dishes in Germany and much of Europe, and popular around the world.[9]
Life
Nurman was born in Istanbul, Turkey.[2] He emigrated to Germany from Turkey in 1960, aged 26, and moved to Berlin from Stuttgart in 1966. In 1972 he set up a fast food stall at Berlin's Berlin Zoologischer Garten railway station, in the former West Berlin.[3][8] At his stall Nurman sold grilled meat and salad inside a flat bread. He had thought that busy Berlin workers might like a portable meal.[3] Though he did not become wealthy from his widely-imitated shop, Nurman later said he was happy that so many Turkish people were able to make a living selling kebabs. At the time of his death, there were approximately 16,000 döner outlets in Germany, with over 2.5 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in annual sales.[3][9]
References
- ^ Der Erfinder des Döner ist tot, n-tv.de, 26 October 2013
- ^ a b c "Döner kebab 'inventor' Kadir Nurman dies". The Independent. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d e "Döner kebab 'inventor' Kadir Nurman dies in Berlin". BBC News Online. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- ^ James Ramsden (28 October 2013). "Did Kadir Nurman really invent the doner kebab?". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ^ Kenneth F. Kiple, Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas, eds., Cambridge World History of Food, Cambridge, 2000. ISBN 0-521-40216-6. Vol. 2, p. 1147.
- ^ Eberhard Seidel-Pielen (10 May 1996). "Döner-Fieber sogar in Hoyerswerda" [Doner fever even in Hoyerswerda]. ZEIT ONLINE (in German). Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ^ "The Gyro, a Greek Sandwich, Selling Like Hot Dogs". The New York Times. 4 September 1971. p. 23. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- ^ a b Erfinder mag keine Döner mehr, n-tv.de, 25. September 2011.
- ^ a b Grieshaber, Kirsten (11 April 2010). "Doner kebab becomes Germany's favorite fast food". USA TODAY. Associated Press. Retrieved 27 February 2016.