I was on my way home the other day after enjoying a couple of beers and instinctively went into my local takeaway to get a doner kebab. I eat them fairly regularly and they are my all-time favourite takeaway. Someone had told me earlier in the week that if I knew what was in them I wouldn’t eat them. Considering some of the things I’ve eaten in the past, I thought, that wouldn’t bother me.
It did however get me curious as to what exactly goes into doner meat. The next day I Googled for about half an hour but couldn’t find anything. This got me even more intrigued – is there a takeaway doner meat conspiracy going on in the UK?
That evening I rang up to get another kebab delivered but this time I asked one of the chefs if he could give me a rundown of the ingredients for a “project” I was working on. He said they bought them in frozen on a skewer and all it said on the plastic packet it came in was “Lamb”. That wasn’t exactly helpful. I wondered though in today’s health conscious society – is there a legal obligation on the takeaways’ part to disclose the ingredients?
That night I emailed the Food Standard’s Agency who basically said, no, there is no obligation since they are caterers and not in food retails.
Now I was even more curious – even the chefs don’t know what they’re cooking! I went back to my good friend the Internet and changed my search strategy. This time I searched for the manufacturers rather than the takeaways. I got a handful of emails and sent them all the same request (asking for a recipe). I did get one reply though it was very unspecific. With hindsight I should have expected such a reply. After all, I could have been competition trying to steal their secret recipe. Given that, the company that did reply were kind to do so.
So, the Doner Kebab Meat Mystery continues. If you should unearth more than I do, please get in touch.
I’ve documented my experience in a new blog entitled, What are the Ingredients of Takeaway Doner Meat?
Anyway, I think I’ll celebrate my limited success with a doner kebab. Enjoy . . .