Posted by Adam Kuban, September 22, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Clicking in to the Slice inbox today, we've got this awesome email from Justin C. in Zambia....
I'm a federal civil servant currently on a four-month detail to Lusaka, Zambia, and until recently I had accepted that I'd be without good pizza during that time. Lusaka is the capital of a very undeveloped country, and the options are very limited even in the city. There are a couple fast-food pizza joints here (South African chain Debonairs and Pizza Inn), but they're terrible.
A couple colleagues recommended I go to Black Knight, a local bakery/coffee shop chain that makes pizza. The location in the Kabulonga neighborhood of Lusaka is the only one offering pizza, so after a few weeks of emptiness in my life, I finally (and skeptically) checked it out.
As the photos show, I was pleasantly surprised. Black Knight has two wood-fired clay ovens, and produces pies with good crust and tasty sauce. The cheese is a little weak; the aged mozzarella here has a slightly sour taste and inelastic texture, but not enough to ruin the pizza. The "Margherita" is really a New York–style cheese pizza with a little dried oregano sprinkled on top. Black Knight has a spinach-feta pie that's very good and a few others I haven't tried that get good reviews.
It's MUCH better than anything I expected to find 7,500 miles from the East Coast, and good enough to hold me over. If any readers are in the neighborhood, make sure to check it out.
—Justin C.
A truly amazing report. After reading Justin's report and viewing the photos, I wondered about the availability of cheese and tomatoes in Zambia. According to wikipedia, Lusaka is a fairly large city (1.2 million people), but the Zambian people are among the poorest on earth, with an annual per capita income averaging $395. Copper mining has traditionally been the major source of revenue in Zambia. Not much mention was made about agriculture and the geography seems somewhat hostile to traditional agriculture. I therefore wondered whether the sauce and the cheese were imported from S. Africa or Europe.
Interestingly, there is an Ashkenzi Jewish community in Lusaka, so, perhaps, Justin might be able to comment on the availability of bagels or other "traditional" foods.
It's great to see pics of the Black Knight! I spent 2007 in Lusaka, and it's true, the Black Knight is the only good brick oven pizza, although the Italian Club also serves a decent slice. I had the pleasure of becoming friends with the owner, a white Zambian named Bernard and his family also owns Cafe Kilimanjaro in Lusaka and another cafe in Victoria Falls. Tomatoes are everywhere in Zambia and extremely cheap. In fact, it's hard to imagine I buy heirloom tomatoes at the Farmer's Market after spending pennies on Tomatoes in Zambia. I believe the cheese is probably imported from South Africa because Bernard's family definitely had some S. African connections, but they do have Supermarkets in Lusaka with relatively decent cheese.
As far as bagels, there are none to be bought. However, having endeared myself to the Jewish community of Lusaka (being a fellow Yid myself) I did come across one instance of bagels for Breakfast on Yom Kippur. A Jewish South African family had taught their cook how to make bagels and she would make dozens for special occasions. This was a rare treat for me in a bagelless year. And the bagels weren't over-sized monsters either. They were small, delicious and accompanied by lox and cream cheese.
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I'm a federal civil servant currently on a four-month detail to Lusaka, Zambia, and until recently I had accepted that I'd be without good pizza during that time. Lusaka is the capital of a very undeveloped country, and the options are very limited even in the city. There are a couple fast-food pizza joints here (South African chain Debonairs and Pizza Inn), but they're terrible.
As the photos show, I was pleasantly surprised. Black Knight has two wood-fired clay ovens, and produces pies with good crust and tasty sauce. The cheese is a little weak; the aged mozzarella here has a slightly sour taste and inelastic texture, but not enough to ruin the pizza. The "Margherita" is really a New York–style cheese pizza with a little dried oregano sprinkled on top. Black Knight has a spinach-feta pie that's very good and a few others I haven't tried that get good reviews. 
2 Comments:
A truly amazing report. After reading Justin's report and viewing the photos, I wondered about the availability of cheese and tomatoes in Zambia. According to wikipedia, Lusaka is a fairly large city (1.2 million people), but the Zambian people are among the poorest on earth, with an annual per capita income averaging $395. Copper mining has traditionally been the major source of revenue in Zambia. Not much mention was made about agriculture and the geography seems somewhat hostile to traditional agriculture. I therefore wondered whether the sauce and the cheese were imported from S. Africa or Europe.
Interestingly, there is an Ashkenzi Jewish community in Lusaka, so, perhaps, Justin might be able to comment on the availability of bagels or other "traditional" foods.
famdoc at 1:02PM on 09/22/08
It's great to see pics of the Black Knight! I spent 2007 in Lusaka, and it's true, the Black Knight is the only good brick oven pizza, although the Italian Club also serves a decent slice. I had the pleasure of becoming friends with the owner, a white Zambian named Bernard and his family also owns Cafe Kilimanjaro in Lusaka and another cafe in Victoria Falls. Tomatoes are everywhere in Zambia and extremely cheap. In fact, it's hard to imagine I buy heirloom tomatoes at the Farmer's Market after spending pennies on Tomatoes in Zambia. I believe the cheese is probably imported from South Africa because Bernard's family definitely had some S. African connections, but they do have Supermarkets in Lusaka with relatively decent cheese.
As far as bagels, there are none to be bought. However, having endeared myself to the Jewish community of Lusaka (being a fellow Yid myself) I did come across one instance of bagels for Breakfast on Yom Kippur. A Jewish South African family had taught their cook how to make bagels and she would make dozens for special occasions. This was a rare treat for me in a bagelless year. And the bagels weren't over-sized monsters either. They were small, delicious and accompanied by lox and cream cheese.
sesametooth at 4:45PM on 09/22/08