TK + DK

Sit down, grab a cup of Joe, and I will tell you a story about something that I didn’t think was possible.

I’m in love.

Go ahead, read that again, I didn’t believe it the first time I saw it written either.

I just realized it a couple of minutes ago, and there is simply no other way to state it. I’m in love! Several people told me this would happen, but I didn’t believe them. I told them that, while I was not writing off the possibility, I didn’t see it happening.

We met for dinner on Monday, and again for lunch on Tuesday. I had to walk about one mile out of my way, but we did dinner again tonight (Thursday). It was during tonight's dinner that I came to my conclusion. I didn’t say anything though, because … well … because I’m an idiot.

Sure, it may be the fact that I’m away from home; however, I’ve been away for 15 years in the past and only came close to falling a time or two. It may be because I’m in a foreign land and do not speak the language; but let’s face it who among you believes that you and I are really speaking the same language (on a consistent basis)? It could be because my sarcastic wit (or caustic personality, as it’s been called, on more than one occasion) has not entered the equation yet.

Perchance it's the lilting sounds of “The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark” playing on the CD and the small cup of Woodford Reserve in my hand that are altering my mood. Maybe it’s just a mid-life crisis (just one of many, according to my mother). I don’t know what it is. Though I am sure that everyone who knows me will be surprised at the speed with which this has occurred. I know I was.

Maybe it won’t last. The light of love may soon fade when my fickle personality enters the scene. Perhaps some younger and prettier little thing might come along and try to dissuade me from my current passion.

However, I cannot live my life dwelling on reasons that my (our) love won’t last. Why can’t things stay the way they are right now? What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I experience love? Perfect love, just like … well, OK nobody I know … but I see movies and hear songs about it all the time. So it has to exist, doesn’t it?

I know I’ve screwed things up in the past by rushing things, or being too cautious, or getting scared whenever things are going too well. But I am determined not to let it happen again.

See, I’ve really fallen hard for Döner Kebab.

Döner Kebab is a Turkish sandwich similar to a Greek Gyro. The meat is cooked on a vertical rotisserie. It is made up of one or more of several meats (lamb, veal, chicken, turkey, beef … no pork though, so it’s not perfect). The meats are stacked into a cylindrical form with a rotisserie bar through the middle. The ones that I sampled were turkey, with at least one being turkey and veal. The meat is sliced off in very thin pieces with either a long carving knife or an electric knife-like-contraption. The thin slices allow for the perfect ratio of charred to moist flesh, and since it’s cooked on a vertical rotisserie, it is basically self-basting.

After the carving, approximately one-half of the meat is placed into a sliced and toasted pita (or some other flatbread). The next additions are lettuce, tomato, some cabbage, and perhaps some cheese (Feta! Yeah baby! Feta!), and/or some peppers (these items will vary from place to place). Then it is sauced with either a yoghurt sauce or a spicy garlic sauce (both are excellent, but I prefer the garlic), and topped with the other one-half of the meat.

Wrapped up in a small wax paper package, and costing about 4 or 5 bucks it is as pure a pleasure as I have found here. Those of you who have spent any time in Germany are sure to know about these already. Apparently they are as popular here as pizza or burgers are in the U.S. And although it is not as easy to eat as a McWhatever, it is well worth the time it takes to stop and eat one in a stationary position.

But, I won’t be a fool and rush in just yet. I won’t make any commitments. I’ll try other things for lunch and for dinner. Maybe I’ll even feel the need to test out the old saying that “absence makes the heart grow fonder” for a while. Perhaps one day I will I find something else worthy of bestowing my love upon. Until then, it’ll be me and Döner Kebab.