It's not quite potato but...
Winter is holding on to Berlin with wet fingertips, occasionally slipping and letting Spring poke her face through, but not yet willing to finally release the city. On an evening like this- wet, windy and with the U-bahns still not running- there’s nothing better than comforting yourself with some heavy traditional German cuisine.And in Berlin there is no food more traditional than the Döner kebab. In fact, Wikipedia credits the suburb of Kreuzberg with the invention of the modern Döner. So where better to have one?
There are Döner imbiss (fast food kiosks) on almost every corner. In fact, competition here is so fierce that the Döner Wars of 2006 saw prices plummet to below a Euro. This has evened out again, but you’ll generally get one for around 2.50€.
It’s pretty simple to order: “Ein Döner bitte” is understood by all, but there is one phrase unique to the Döner trade that you won’t find in your guidebook. After they’ve grabbed the pita bread and thrown it in the grill, while they’re standing there sharpening the knife in front of a metre high roll of flesh, the Döner man will casually throw this over his shoulder at you in an indistinguishable mumble.
“Kenowbloucroytersharf?”
I spent a year here before I realised that this sneezing sound the Döner man kept making when I ordered, was actually a request as to what sauce I’d like. Knoblauch (garlic), Kräuter (herb), Scharf (spicy) – run together into one long word. You can pick any or all of these, can also decide not to have onions (which is what he is usually asking when he waves his tongs over the salad ingredients and looks questioning at you). If you’re like me however, the easiest thing is to just wave your hands around, shrug your shoulders slightly and say simply, “Alles.”