Nice to meet you Döner fans!
Hi everyone! It’s
nice to ‘meat’ you today ! My name is Jessica and I am a new
fan/friend/family member of the Döner
Bistro in DC! I am a woman of many
identities, Californian, lifetime student, world traveler, consumer of all
things culture, and, most relevantly – a diehard Döner aficionado.
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| Frau Merkel slices up one of Germany's favorite foods (Today's Zaman) |
I was born and raised on the coast of California, the land
of ever ripe avocados and burrito’s the size of small children. My family adopted our German half into our
crazy brood with the marriage of my aunt Linda to one Herr Michael Sossenheimer. Growing up I would play German games with my
cousins, eat German food with the family and laugh about the time my grandpa
got drunk at a wedding and tried to pronounce “Ich Liebe Dich” in front of the
German half of the family. My first trip
to Germany was when I was 14, on a ‘camping’ tour from Frankfurt to Switzerland.
It was a few years later however when I had my first sweet
bits of Döner
in between hiking in Schwarzwald, my fist discotheque, spaghetti-eis and total
culture shock. After a day strolling the
streets of Stuttgart my German
sister Verena took me to a Döner shop in an ally way. Although not 100% convinced of the legality
of said shop, I am never one to shrink from adventure. One bite and I never looked back. Succulent lamb, deep aromatic spices, cooling
yogurt and cucumber, spicy pickled
vegetables…. to say the least I was hooked.
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| Ahh Berlin, the sweet smell of summer, bier and Döner (Jessica Bell) |
Fast forward to my mid
twenties (where I still reside) and you will find me in a sweaty Döner shop in Schöneberg
underneath my Berlin apartment chowing down on my still favorite hand food –
the juicy, complicated, epic Döner. I
find the Döner to be a beautiful representation of the European spirit of
multiculturalism, a tribute to years of immigration, emigration and
re-conceptualization of identity. What
are the favorite foods in Germany? Döner, kebab, curry wurst and Bier (some things will never
change). As a student of politics,
culture and identity, this intersection between traditional practices, changing
demographics and newly created though processes is like the way that spiced
meat, yogurt and fluffy pita go together – perfectly.
Follow me on the Döner bistro blog, facebook and twitter as I
delve into the delicious realm of food, culture and newly formed identity all wrapped up in soft buttery bread and
served with and ice cold Weihenstephan
Pils while we dream of Berlin in the spring!
Prost - Jess
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| It's so good... |
