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Although the doner kebabs popularity shot up
since the 1970’s, according to reports, Kebab first
appeared in the UK in the 1940’s as immigrants from
Turkish, Cypriot and Kurdish communities arrived in
Search for a new life.
First-generation immigrants increasingly brought
their families over to settle with them and by 2011, the
the census estimated that the UK population of Turkish,
Cypriot and Kurdish communities numbered at least
500,000 people.
As with all migrant populations, the people
of these communities brought their customs and
cultural influences with them, including the Doner
Kebab.
The first UK kebab shop is reported to have
opened in London in 1940. The Istanbul Restaurant
in Soho is likely to have served kebab meat, roasted
on a horizontal spit and served with traditional
accompaniments including rice and salad.
KEBAB ORIGINS
DonerKebab, which literally translates to rotating‘roast meat’, islikely to have been consumed sincemankind started using fire forcooking around
250,000years ago. In Sumerian, Kabubo means tocook on ember and in Arabic itmeans to fry meat,It is also considered that kebabs come from the
timewhen Nomadic tribesmen grilled meat on theirswords, In his 18thcentury travel books Ottomantraveller, Evliya Celebi mentions kebabsas horizontalstacks of meat. In the 1860s, Iskender Efendi fromBursacontributes to the kebab with a new angle -vertical grilling andserving itin thin slices. Whateverthe origins of the doner kebab, itis hard to ignoreits popularity here in the United Kingdom. Sincethearound the 1970’s & 80’s, it has become ‘the’takeawaymeal of choice for . party goers up anddown the land.