(bold is prompt, rest is generated)
Below is an essay by Hamdi Magan, a Turkish donair chef who has learned English from tourists. The essay is titled "The influence of doner kebap on william shakespeare":
I am wrtiing about a topic which has been of great interest for me, namely the effect of Doner kebap on William Shakespeare. I have always been interested in Shakespeare’s works, in fact some of his phrases still come to mind very often and I hope I can finish this essay so that my family can be proud of me.
However, before I start explaining what the influence of Doner kebap is on Shakespeare’s life and the works, let us see a brief introduction of Doner kebap first.
Doner kebap is a Turkish dish originally made of meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off as needed. It is a popular street food in the Middle East, the Balkans, and the Balkans, and in some places is known as shawarma. In English, it is also often called gyros, a Greek term for a related sandwich, and this is used in many places in both the UK and US. Although kebap is the Turkish word for “roast”, in Turkish cuisine it can also refer to any kind of sandwich.
According to a famous author, shawarma comes from the Arabic shaurma, meaning “turning roast” and in Turkey is pronounced as kebap. The Arabic word is also the origin of the English word chawarma, meaning a type of sandwich with a specific preparation of lamb or chicken.
The doner kebap’s history can be tracked back as far as the 13th century, to the ottoman empire. During the ottoman era, the doner kebap was called shish kebap. However, doner kebap did not really become popular until the 1930’s, when the world’s first modern kebab house opened up in Istanbul.
Now let us see how Shakespeare was influenced by this great dish.
After Shakespeare returned to London from his tour, he did not have enough money to buy his meals. Being a great artist, however, Shakespeare did not have to work for money, because he could make a living through his work. During that time the Tudor people believed that there were several ways to attract the sun, for example by dressing expensively, holding banquets or drinking alcohol. Because Shakespeare was always poor and hungry, he was probably very proud of not drinking or eating fancy foods. It is important to know that England was on a religious celebration during the Tudor Era, and the people believed that the more foods they did not eat, the more thankful they would be for all they had.
In fact, Shakespeare was very superstitious and believed that it was a good thing to stay healthy. For instance, in “Julius Caesar” he used a lot of references to all kinds of meats. However, he did not mention any specific kinds of meats, even though he usually wrote quite detailed and specified lines. By doing this, Shakespeare probably wanted to demonstrate his approval of this kind of diet.
Not only was the doner kebap a healthy kind of food, it also was very affordable. The doner kebap was served in “kebab houses” or in small restaurants. During this time people had to walk a lot or travel by boat to get to these restaurants and at times people even ate in pubs. In fact, a lot of people might have forgotten about this great food, because it is usually thought that bread was a more popular kind of food in the 16th century. This is mainly because it was a lot easier to bring around.
However, there was one great thing about the doner kebap, which is that it can last for a long time, without spoiling. Now you might be wondering how this is possible, since doner kebap is made of meat. The answer is the pita bread.
Back in the days pita bread was not as thin as we know it today. It was thicker and drier, and in some places it was still known as “pain à casser” which means “bread that you need to break”. This might sound very strange to us, but in those days, people did not have such a great understanding of nutrition, so the thought of bread spoiling was not something they worried about.
Shakespeare might have known about the extra thick pita bread when he used references to the doner kebap. As he lived in a time when bread was more popular than meat, he probably wanted to show the public that eating meat can be enjoyable too, by describing how tasty it can be.
And here is the most important part: Even though the Tudor people could not cook meat, they always knew what it tasted like. This is because meat was a very popular kind of food, especially in rural areas, where people had to eat raw meat for survival.
Since this was also the case with doner kebap, there were so many references to it in Shakespeare’s plays, that it seems like he was actually a very famous doner kebap seller in his time.
I hope you have enjoyed this and please share it with your friends and family.
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.