The inventor of the doner kebab The origin of the doner kebab, that popular snack of carved roast, sliced from a rotating skewer, and served in a lavash or pita bread on street corners around the world is said to have been invented by Kadir Nurman, a Turkish Gastarbeiter or migrant worker, who settled in Germany. Its creation was less an invention than a happy accident Kadir Nurman introduced 'Doner kebab' meaning simply 'rotating roast' for hungry German workers. His innovation was to pop the meat into a flat loaf and render it mobile. He had inadvertently turned it into fast food. Born in Anatolia and grew up and educated in Istanbul Kadir Nurman came to Germany in 1960. He first settled in Stuttgart where he worked in Daimler. He went to Berlin in 1966 and set up a snack bar, in 1972, opposite mainline station.