Good news, kebab aficionados; back at 8:30 pm, Tuesday nights on SBS VICELAND, is the fascinating behind-the-counter doco-series, Kebab Kings, which takes a peek at one of Australia’s favourite snack sensations – the kebab.
To celebrate this early Chrissy present, we chatted to various members of Sydney and Melbourne’s Doner Kebab favourites to find out what makes the mouths of Aussie diners water, and the results range from comforting, to surprising, to hilarious, to downright bizarre.
From Victoria, we spoke to Filiz Sagdic of Kebabs R Yummy, Cayoan Aydemir of Melbourne Kebab Station and Michael Jacobs from Turkish Kebabs. From Sydney, we chatted to Yavuz Cikar of The Sultan’s Table, James Ada of Fully Tabooly, Yalcin Gol of Watsup Brothers, Mahmut Agar of Sydney Kebabs, and siblings Berkan and Barif Ulker and Perihan Lok of Saray.
Wrap yourselves in for the wild world of bread, meat and salad combos.
What’s hot?
The meat
You’d think that due to the fact that us Aussies love our cow meat, that the beef kebab would easily come out on top, right? Nay. Lamb won the featured meat race, whether served shaved off the vertical rotisserie, chargrilled, or minced and molded into an Adana-style flank.
While chicken or even a lamb/chicken-combo were cited by some as just as popular, beef only won the race at Saray of Newtown and the Watsup Brothers of Gregory Hills. Lamb’s supremacy makes sense, as it was the original spiced meat featured in traditional Turkish kebabs, but that being said, this is Australia, and all three meats, whether on their own or combined, are still all hot sellers.
The extras
At Sydney Kebabs, the trio of lettuce, tomato and onion reigned supreme. At Saray, it was also lettuce, tomato and onion. At Kebabs R Yummy? Lettuce, tomato and onion. Watsup Brothers? Surprisingly, they mentioned lettuce, tomato and onion. In fact, the only store NOT to answer with the expected trio was Fully Tabooly, who claimed that their meat’s most popular sidekick was (no, not tabouli) their ‘walnut chilli’.
The sauce
It was a valiant effort by all condiments, but as Ceyoan of Melbourne's Kebab Station casually stated as if there could be no other answer: “garlic, of course”. Yes, that pungent yet moreish sauce edged out both chilli and BBQ by a hair. Of the sauce combos, it seems Aussies are primarily into the garlic/chilli combo. Interestingly, hummus only got a look-in at The Sultan’s Table, where it’s famously house-made. Nobody mentioned tomato sauce, and for some reason, I take comfort in that fact.
Pickled green chillies, yoghurt dressing, pita bread and peperonata veg all come to play in this lamb kebab recipe.
Source: Adam Liaw
What’s not so hot?
One store answered “cabbage”. One answered “carrot”. Three reluctantly answered “tabouli”. Mysteriously, almost every other store answered with “onion”, which was also part of the unequivocally popular trio of side ingredients. The contradiction briefly threw my entire world into disarray, then things got weird.
The weirdest requests
Asking for falafel on your meat-based kebab is a little weird, but not overly. Asking to add egg, or mushroom, or pineapple is a tad weirder, though can be rationalised as an Aussie trying to turn their kebab into an Aussie pizza.
At Kebabs R Yummy, a customer regularly requests their kebab be slathered with English mustard, which is weird mostly due to the fact that it’s such an overpowering flavour; they’re basically asking for a mustard kebab.
You want to know what’s weird? Ask James at Fully Tabooly; he had a customer enter the store with their own special ingredient, hand over said ingredient to his staff, and ask that said ingredient be added to his order of a stock-standard doner kebab.
That ingredient? An (expletive) MANGO.
Why do Australians love their kebabs?
I’ve been wracking my brain trying to think of someone I’ve met over the last 36 years who doesn’t enjoy a good kebab (and that includes the non-carnivorous, falafel variety), and I can't come up with a single name. I’m sure kebab haters exist, I’ve just never met one, and I’m not sure I want to. I asked why us Aussies are so enamoured with our kebabs...
Common answers included: the kebab’s freshness and made-to-order approach; that they're healthier alternatives to other fast foods; the bang for your buck; and the customer’s ability to personalise their meal while its prepared before their very eyes (MANGO, anyone?).
But my favourite answer came from Berkan at Saray, who said that Australians had settled on meat pies but then were delighted to discover there was a more desirable alternative...
All hail the kebab.
