There’s nothing definitive in history, as the use of fire for cooking (790,000+ years ago) predates the pen and paper by many moons. In the Kitab al-Tabikh, a 10th-century Baghdadi cookbook there are descriptions of kabāb as cut-up meat, either fried in a pan or grilled over a fire. Stone supports for skewers however were …
The doner kebap originated in the Ottoman Empire. It started out as the cag kebab, stacks of seasoned sliced meat cooked on a horizontal rotisserie, which dates back to the 17th century. Bursa, which is just south of Istanbul is thought to be the birthplace of the vertical rotisserie used for today’s modern doner kebap. …
The vertical rotisserie was invented in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire and soon spread around the world. The Greek gyro, the Arab shawarma, Mexican al pastor, and Canadian donair are all kebap variations that use this type of rotisserie.
Doner is a specific type of kebab that is made of meat pressed into the shape of an inverted cone that is slow-cooked on a vertical rotisserie. The outer layer is then sliced into thin shavings as it cooks which are then added to a plated dish or sandwich bread.
The literal meaning of durum in Turkish is roll or wrap. A thin flatbread such as lavash or yufka is generally used in Turkey and it makes it very easy to hold in your hand when it’s stuffed with vegetables and various types of sauces.
Doner kebabs are either plated dishes or grilled meat placed on sandwich bread, while Durum kebab use wrapped flatbread like lavash or yufka.