Mustafa’s Doner Kebab arrives in Bute Street

TURKISH born Mahmut Aygun invented the doner kebab fast food sandwich when he moved to Germany at the age of 16. Made from thinly sliced lamb or beef cooked on a vertical rotisserie, the snack is served inside a wrap or pitta bread, stuffed with shredded cabbage, onion, tomatoes and optional chilli and yoghurt sauce. Since 1971 when Mahmut, known as the ‘kebab king’, served his first doner kebab in Berlin, the snack has become popular all over Europe.

Irene Zuze prepares doner kebab at Mustafa’s in Bute Street.

At a dinner party in Harare recently, I met a young woman who had grown up in Germany. Missing the favourite late night snack she enjoyed when living in Karlsruhe, she and her husband decided to open a doner kebab restaurant in Harare, giving Zimbos a taste of something new, and an option to lunching off sadza and stew. At the beginning of March, Mustafa’s Doner Kebab House opened its doors at the corner of Bute and Chinhoyi Streets. It was time to visit.

We set off for Mustafa’s with some fellow foodies on a Sunday, hoping to avoid heavy weekday traffic and aggressive kombi drivers. As luck would have it, the Warriors were playing the African Cup of nations qualifier against Congo Brazzaville at the National Sports Stadium, and the roads were chaotic, with motorists and pedestrians all wild with excitement as they headed for the stadium.

Finally at our destination, we entered a modern and spotless interior, with comfortable tables and chairs and attractive graphics decorating the walls. In March, a large plate of doner (thinly sliced beef) and generous portions of chips and salad cost $8, a yufka (wrap) with doner, chips and sauce, $9. A bottle of mineral water was $1, and Pfuko Maheu $2. The meat was well seasoned and finely sliced, the salad fresh and the chips crunchy.

Irene Zuze, the cook in charge at Mustafa’s, trained for two years at Sandringham College in Norton, learning all aspects of cooking. She uses chicken breast for the chicken doner, thinly sliced and marinated for two hours. Flavoursome hind quarter is chosen to prepare beef doner. For the flat bread or wraps she mixes plain flour, yeast, milk and olive oil. In all there are seven staff members, all kept busy by a constant flow of patrons.

This tasty Turkish snack, so popular in Germany and throughout the EU, is likely to become a favourite in Zimbabwe. A follow up visit to Mustafa’s Doner Kebab House in Bute Street

is planned, but as the cost of diesel continues to rise, it will not be any time soon.  A Matter of Taste with 

Mustafa’s Doner Kebab House

Cnr Bute St/Chinhoyi St

Harare