Snacks to beer: Doner Kebab

We usually leave recipes to the experts but make the occasional exception when it comes to foods which are an inextricable part of our beer culture.

In Britain, after several beers, when everything else is closed, you can always rely on the kebab shop and everyone’s favourite guilty pleasure: lamb doner kebab. No-one would dream of eating one while sober. The great round of meat is often referred to as an “elephant leg” because it is so heavily processed that it’s hard to be sure exactly what it is composed of. Meat, fat and salt are the three main ingredients but beyond that… Asbestos? Industrial grease? Who knows.

Nonetheless, they are delicious, and we decided to make one at home so that we could feel a bit less grotty eating it.

We were inspired partly by Kenny McGovern’s The Take Away Secret although we ended up adapting his recipe substantially for our own. The main tip we picked up from McGovern is the importance of garlic powder. It’s the magic ingredient in most fast food.

Ingredients (for 2-3)

Kebab

* 300g lamb mince or cubes of stewing lamb

* One lamb’s liver

* 30g porridge oats

* 1 tbsp plain flour

* spice and herb mix: tbsp garlic powder, tbsp italian herbs/mixed herbs, tsp Cayenne pepper, tsp salt

For cooking the kebab

* 1 tomato

* half an onion

To serve

* bread of your choice (naan, pitta, Turkish pide, etc.)

* salad of your choice

* chilli sauce, garlic mayonnaise, etc., to taste

Method

1. Grind up all of the kebab ingredients until they form a fine, cohesive paste. If the mixture is too liquid, add a handful more oats.

2. On a piece of oiled clingfilm, form into a log or loaf. (N.B. it won’t look nice between this point and when you slice it. Sorry.)

3. Wrap it up in the clingfilm like a sausage, twisting the ends until it forms a tight roll. Put that in the fridge for a few hours.

4. Heat the oven to 120 degrees centigrade. Remove the meat from its wrapper and put it on a lightly greased non-stick roasting tin or baking sheet. Put slices of tomato and onion on top. Cook at 120 for two hours, turning after an hour.

5. When it is browned all over, take it out of the oven and leave it to rest for 10-15 minutes while you prepare your bread and salad. Then slice it as thinly as possible along its length. An electric carving knife would probably work best but a bread knife is a good alternative.

6. Layer bread, salad, meat and sauces.

7. Eat with a flimsy plastic fork on a blood-spattered pavement, after dark, with the sound of sirens  in the distance.

And here’s our chicken doner recipe, now sadly outdated. We’ll be reviewing and rewriting it soon. Short version: more garlic powder!