So, to answer my own question: kebab is a cuisine of the road, of migration, and of late-night hunger. It belongs to Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, India, Germany, and every city that has ever had a food cart. It’s a delicious lie—a simple concept that we pretend is exotic, but really, it’s just humanity’s way of saying, “I have meat, I have fire, let’s eat this together.”
Next time you bite into one, don’t worry about which flag it belongs to. Just enjoy the fact that you’re eating 5,000 years of culinary history wrapped in bread. And maybe thank a Turkish immigrant in Berlin while you’re at it—but don’t say that out loud if you’re in Athens. Trust me.
Now, go get a kebab. Your stomach (and your sense of global solidarity) will thank you.
