Chef Sungani

Fine dining in Zambia has long meant replicating European techniques. But chef Sungani Phiri’s new home restaurant is boldly elevating Zambia’s ingredients – and its culinary profile.

I’m sitting at an outdoor verandah with my family in a suburb of Livingstone, Zambia, when chef Sungani Piri brings out our fourth course. It’s a black cone-shaped canape made of cassava, served on a bed of millet inside a black potjie – a three-legged cooking pot. Filled with avocado ice cream and topped with edible gold flecks, it’s almost too pretty to eat. But I take a bite; it’s simultaneously sweet and savoury.

The gold, Phiri informs us, is an homage to the Copperbelt, Zambia’s mining region.
These dishes are Zambia on a plate, yet unlike anything most travellers – or locals – will have encountered in the tourist capital, where restaurants usually cater to international tastes and fine dining has long referenced European techniques. Visitors hoping to try traditional Zambian cuisine typically encounter buffets of stews, boiled vegetables and nshima, the porridge-like cornmeal that is our staple food.

But Sungani Restaurant, whose fine dining tasting menu is entirely rooted in Zambia’s indigenous ingredients and culinary memory, offers travellers a whole new way to experience Zambia’s flavours – and a window into Zambian culture itself.