I have eaten my way across a remarkable number of time zones. Not always intentionally. Food, I have found, is the most honest introduction to a culture - more reliable than a guidebook, more illuminating than a history lecture, and considerably more delicious than both. Every dish in this collection tells you something true about the place it comes from: how people there live, what they celebrate, what they mourn, and what they refuse to compromise on when it comes to dinner. I have tried to honour each dish without being solemn about it. Cooking should be pleasurable, not stressful. These recipes are authentic in spirit and simplified in practice - tested for real kitchens with real people who have real jobs and real washing up to do afterwards. Start anywhere. Eat everything. Argue, if necessary, about whose Jollof is superior.