Kaiser of Falafel and Inventor of Doner - Berlin Foodlogue

Turkish citizens who came to post World War II Germany as Gastarbeiter (guest workers) would not have realized that half a century later they will be remembered, not for the factories they built but for the food they brought with them. About two and a half million Turks in Germany have achieved success in many walks of life but nowhere is their presence more prominent than on the food scene where Doner Kebab (a German Turk invention – more on that later!) are ubiquitous – the whole effect impact is most evident in Berlin a city home to more than 200,00 Turks and 1,600 Kebab shops!

Döner Kebab exists since 250 years as a meal on a plate (Iskender). In 1971 Mehmet Aygün came up with the idea to put the meal on a plate in bread which revolutionized the oriental fastfood industry. What started at Hasir in Kreuzberg, the focal point of Trukish culture in Berlin, has spread across Germany as the most popular fast food which stands toe-to-toe with glitzier American chains. Hasir itself has expanded to five other locations in Berlin. Now the flagship branch is one on Oranienburger Str 4, Mitte – an attempt to take the cuisine more upmarket in an ambience very distinct from typical kebab shop. We visited the orginal kruezverg outlet, though. The kebab I had was shaved off in very thin slices from the meat stack on the skewer making it crispier than most common versions. The kuver bread served alongside was fresh and a welcome relief from the pita that is used by the kebab shops. Even the grilled aubergine that my wife, who is a vegetarian, ordered were good enough for her not to complain about a dinner at Hasir.




Another salient feature of Turkish food is the mangal (charcoal grill), and a popular mangal is the Adana Grill on corner of Manteuffel Strasse and Oranienstrasse. The concept is simple with the variety coming from different marinades and cuts of meat, while cooking method remains the same – grilling on a open charcoal pit. My mixed grill included lamb chops, chicken, and lamb mince grilled on a skewer – all of it served on a bed of bread along with very sweet (for an Indian it is acceptable but would be too sweet for most Europeans) but refreshing tea.



While Hasir is about the imagination of its founder who turned his country’s kebab into convenience food, Dada Falafel is about the personality and skill of its owner – a Lebanese gentleman with rock star looks and an attitude to go with it. Not one to consider virtues of of humility he advised me, “When you go back to your country tell them that you met the Kaiser of falafel”! Falafels were made fresh before us, with the perfect crispy crumbly texture. A blogger who seems to know a lot more about falafels considers it the best he has had in life. The servings of hummus and baba ganoush were generous and tasty. (sorry for a Lebanese guy featuring in a post on Turkish food but how could I ignore the Kaise?)

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The Central Coffeehoueses

When an article in The Guardian couple of years back said that the homogeneity of modern coffeehouses is stifling their traditional role as places of sedition, it was the writer’s take on the conflict between convenience and culture (or maybe the culture of convenience). This is a change with a global footprint - Starbucks in the US; Café Nero, Costa Coffee and Café Ritazza in Europe; Barista and Café Coffee Day in India having taken over the space occupied by the traditional coffeehouses. While the story of European cafes is well documented (even the early chapters of Harry Potter were written by JK Rowling in an Edinburgh Coffeehouse), what is lesser known that the traditional coffee houses in India, run by workers’ cooperatives, attracted a Nobel Laureate like Rabindra Nath Tagore and other famous writers; Life-time Oscar winner Satyajit Ray and many other film makers; and intellectuals from other walks of life. So it had been really some kind of a global cultural phenomenon even before globalization!

In this context it was an interesting experience to visit two legendary coffeehouses from the erstwhile Austro-Hungarian Empire, a region where the coffeehouse culture had seen its best days. Incidentally the two I visited, though in different cities on the banks of the Danube, even have a common name – Café Central in Vienna (Herrengasse 17) and Central Kávéház in Budapest (V. Károlyi Mihály u. 9).

Café Central has played host to legends like Goethe, Beethoven, and Lenin. But it’s patron who can be called its mascot (no surprise that they have his statue at the entrance, seated at a table) is Peter Altenberg, who had even his mails delivered to the café where he spent most of his time. There are many stories and legends about the place. Some time before the war the Austro-Hungarian government received a sharp note from St Petersburg, demanding that a stop be put to the activities of the Russian political emigrants in Vienna. The Minister of the Interior received the note and shook with laughter: 'Who do they think is going to start a revolution in Russia - perhaps that Herr Trotsky from the Café Central?'" (from Wit as a Weapon by Egon Larsen, 1980).

On my visit I found an elegant place with high vaulted ceilings and marble columns. While the pastry shop Demel and Hotel Sacher fight over who created the ‘original Sachertorte’, Café Central plays it safe with its own ‘orginal Café Central Torte’. So you can have the famed Viennese Apfelstrudel at the restaurant and get gift packed the Central Torte for those back home (presumably it doesn’t use fresh cream and hence lasts longer). While I was there only for breakfast, it has various options for a 3-course lunch or a dinner, including some Viennese specialties and mouth-watering desserts. But the place will always be more about the experience of an unhurried meal in the traditional settings rather than the food .

Quite distinct from my morning visit to Café Central on a crisp spring morning, was the dinner at Central Kavehaz in Budapest. We reached there as hungry souls, after having spent a few hours at the Gellert Thermal Baths, so no tradition or ambience would have mattered, had the food not been good. Thank God, we were not disappointed. As a typical coffeehouse it has a wide varieties of tarts and pastries, the more popular ones being Centrál's creamy coffee cake (with marzipan) and Flodni (layers of poppy seed, walnut, apple and plum marmalade). For the meal one can have traditional Hungarian meat dishes like Goulash or fresh fish from Lake Balaton. While ordering starters and the main course, one needs to budget appetite for the dessert, what with descriptions like ‘Mango parfait with pineapple carpaccio’!

It can be argued that both Café Central and Central Kavehaz are more of tourist traps now rather than intellectual hangouts. There maybe merit in the argument, but the alternative would the period when these both these places had fallen into disrepair and closed for almost four decades till they were reopened in the 80s. The Vienna Café project, is a praiseworthy attempt to understand the past and present of café better. As a glimpse into this unique cultural aspect of 19th and early 20th century, I would think even those part of this project appreciate the tourist-funded reopening of the traditional cafes.

For an interesting read on Central Kavehaz and a lovely photographs check out http://budapestblog.luxuryhotelsbudapest.com/cafe-central-central-kavehaz-in-budapest/