Berlin Döner History

What is Döner anyway? The Berliner Döner is a Turkish fast food, invented in Berlin by a Turkish immigrant in 1971. Its white Turkish bred with salad, meat and sauce. First thing you need to know is that there are few different kinds of Döner’s. It can be served with different sauces and different kinds of meat. You can also change the make-up of the salad, so if you don’t like onions for example you can naturally leave them out, as everything else you don’t like. If you don’t like to eat the bred, you can also order the Döner on a plate.

The standard Döner is served as follows:

White bred cross and warm baked with lamb or chicken, different kinds of vegetables like onion, tomato and cucumber, corn and red cabbage. You usually have three different sauces to choose from: Garlic sauce, herbal sauce and hot sauce. It’s common to mix the hot sauce with one of the others but not garlic and herb sauce. The hot sauce is really hot and only for the brave ones – and be warned, it might burn two times. If you want to try it, we recommend asking for only a little bit hot sauce – “nur ein kleines bisschen scharfe Soße”

Order a Döner

So let’s imagine: You’re starving and have dreamed about trying a Döner your whole life. You want to order a Döner, but you speak English and the Turkish guy at the fast food restaurant speaks German and Turkish. What to do? Desperation! No Turkish-English interpreter around? F*** you’ll have to starve.

Or let us help you and use the following crib:

Just click on the link to hear the translation –> [1][2][3]

• One/ two/ three Döner – Ein/ zwei/ drei Döner  [1] [2] [3]
• Without / with – ohne / mit [1] [2]
• Onion – Zwiebeln [1]
• Tomatos and cucumber – Tomaten und Gurken [1]
• Red cabbage – Rotkohl [1]
• Hot sauce – Scharfer Soße [1]
• Garlic sauce – Knoblauchsoße [1]
• Herb Sauce – Kräutersoße [1]
• Chicken – Huhn [1]
• Lamb – Lamm [1]
• A Döner on a plate (without bred) – Ein Dönerteller [1]

For example:

I would like to have a Döner with chicken, without onions and with hot and garlic sauce.

Ich hätte gern einen Döner mit Huhn, ohne Zwiebeln, mit scharfer Soße und Knoblauchsoße. [1]

The Dönerman is asking: “Mit scharfer Soße?” Wich means „With hot sauce?“ and you might say:

“No thanks, no hot sauce.” – “Nein Danke, keine scharfe Soße.” [1]

“Yes, but only a little bit.” – “Ja, aber nur ein bisschen (scharfe Soße).” [1]

As you finally trust us, try out this with your favourite Dönerman:

Ick hätt jern nen Döner mit scharfa Soße und’n  Sterni [1]

And now some basics:

• Please – Bitte [1]
• Thanx – Danke [1]
• Good bye – Tschüss [1]
• It was delicious – Es war lecker [1]
• I love Döner – Ich liebe Döner [1]

We hope you will find this guide quite helpfull and enjoy the Google Translation links as much as we did.

Liese & Chris