Photograph by Elen Farkas

Recently, there was an alarming report on the steadily increasing weight of Austrian kids and teenagers, with everyone pointing fingers at McDonald’s.

But Austria is not exactly innocent when it comes to fast food culture. Sausage stands are a tradition here. And with the migration of Turks into Austria in the late 1960s, kebab stalls and Middle Eastern-influenced restaurants arrived on the scene. Nowadays, sausages and kebabs are both firmly entrenched components of the local fast food scene. Some enterprising food stand owners sidestep the wurst/kebab face-off by offering both items, in addition to pizza.

Meanwhile, the Vienna chapter of the right-wing Freedom Party is upset about the adoption of the kebab by Austrians as a favorite local fast food. Its controversial party head Heinz-Christian Strache has formed a new organization with some even more extreme right-wing members, calling it SOS Abendland. The new organization’s foremost aim is to preserve good ol’ Austrian values and resist the influence of multiculturalism and tolerance. Its critical attack on Islam in Europe extends from the justifiable—say, hate speech by radical Imans—to the ridiculous. Yes, you guessed right, the Freedom Party does not like kebab stalls.

We are sure that they won’t agree with us that kebabs are heaven-sent. Kebabs are a bit healthier and cheaper than hamburgers, too. The kebab sandwich consists of fried meat (beef, lamb or chicken) and salad, onion rings, tomatoes, and sour cream.

They are also addictive. And because they are available at street corners across Vienna for about €2.50 per sandwich, it’s easy to fall into the kebab vortex.

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