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| A "brick" oven at the "new" location |
A "new" location opened up much closer to home, just past Kintambo magasin. I have to say "new" because I'm sure it's been there for at least a year now, maybe longer. And I have been eyeing the pizza cone for at least that long as well. There are even O'Poeta trucks which I've noticed parked in Kintambo and Bandal....serving the pedestrian on the go.
The pizza cone is exactly what it sounds like- sort of. It has all the traditional (or even nontraditional if you are so bold) ingredients usually associated with pizza baked into a cone-like shape. It took me awhile and some inquisitive interrogation of one of the bakers to determine that it was not actually an ice cream cone kind of thing but just pizza dough baked into a mold. I still wasn't sold on the idea.
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| The pizza cone making machine |
Today however, I have been converted. After a hot day at Congo Loisirs- the sparse playground sporting those three and four wheel bicycle contraptions the kids call go-carts (a far cry from the go- carts of my youth that included motors and helmets,) I decided to take the kids for a cone. I thought it would be less expensive than the $20 pie that wouldn't likely fill four ravenous bellies.
Not only did the pizza cone fill my stomach more than a slice, it came with a surprising price tag. When I got the bill, it was half what I expected. No wonder these things were so popular. You can purchase this neat little snack for a mere $2.50. I wasn't aware you could buy any substantial food item for less than $9.00. (Ok, it's definitely not a chicken burger and fries...and you might need 2 for those growing athletes....but I am still impressed by the price.)
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| The pizza cone is easily eaten just like an ice cream cone, but all warm and filling with no danger of a brain freeze |
Of course, I have been intrigued about the origin of the pizza cone (who thinks up these ideas anyway?!) never having heard of it outside Kin. An infamous google search turned up a few different theories about the history of the cone. I tend to believe it was a European thing first. The idea seems to stem from a need to eat on the go- an aspect of Western culture I truly don't miss. I am a huge fan of "sit down and eat your food, enjoy every bite." And I admit to formerly being one of those grab a coffee and a bagel on the way to work kind of people- happily reformed. I find it hard to even eat a candy bar in the car. It might have to do with the feeling that people are always watching- people who are probably hungry themselves. Or that at any moment someone is likely to come knocking on my window asking for whatever I might have----yes, even my half eaten candy bar.
It is more likely related to the fact that I just don't see many people walking and eating. Even though there are a number of street sellers offering bread and peanut butter or bread and sausage....it seems like people stop to sit and eat, even if it means perching on the concrete edge of a lamppost block. I believe in this. I believe in giving my full attention to a meal- no matter how small. The plastic blue chairs that seem to sprout from the ground and spring up in unlikely places do even more to make it possible to sit for a minute and enjoy a snack and some conversation. Because food should never be eaten alone. That's the other thing I've come to believe in. Food always tastes better if you have someone to share it with. And for the price of a cone, you can easily buy one for a friend.
