Currywurst — It’s what’s for Döner

Walk down Any Strasse Berlin, and you’re sure to come across the city’s king and queen of street food: currywurst and döner kebab. Both are said to have been created in Berlin (the “inventor” of döner kebab, Mahmut Aygün, passed away very recently). Who wears the pants in this monarchy of fast food is certainly up for debate. What is not is how prolific both döner and currywurst vendors are, especially in the neighborhood we called home since October, Moabit.

Quick explanation of the dishes:

Currywurst is a sausage that’s deep-fried, cut into pieces, covered in ketchup and curry powder, served with a roll, perhaps French fries, and eaten with the CUTEST little baby fork you’ve every seen.

Curry Eck in Moabit does currywurst right

Döner kebab is a master of disguise. The meat, which is lamb, beef or chicken, is cooked on an upright rotating spit. Lovingly called “lamb SPAM” by my friend Mindi, the meat is sliced off in strips – either with a knife or a crazy electronic shredder – and then transplanted into a variety of carb costumes. In a piece of grilled bread, it is known as döner im brot. In flat bread, it is dürum döner. On a plate, it is a “teller.” In a dress, it’s your mom.

Construction of the döner includes your choice of three different sauces: a hot sauce, a herb sauce and a garlic sauce, all of which are slathered on. Vegetables are stuffed inside, the sandwich is wrapped in a paper sleeve, and voilá, you have a drunk person’s dream food, all for fewer than 3 euro.

When I first got here, we were having döner fairly often. It’s cheap. It’s filling. And in Moabit, it is everywhere. After about four of these things, I thought it might be a good idea to research how many calories each contains. While I can’t say my Web research yielded a clear-cut answer, I did come away with some words of wisdom. One poster, responding to someone’s question regarding the calories in döner, wrote that when she is sober, a döner has at least a thousand calories. When she’s drunk, a döner is a calorie-free treat. How true.