My Everyday Lagos: Nigerian Cooking at Home and in the Diaspora

In her first cookbook, New York Times Cooking contributor, chef, and recipe creator Komolafe shares her food memories and the culinary traditions of her childhood home of Lagos, Nigeria. She begins by walking readers through the core ingredients of Nigerian cooking and why they are essential for success. Next, she highlights basic techniques like fermentation and dry-roasting that transform core ingredients into the flavormakers that cooks will revisit in recipes throughout the book. Recipes cover street food as well as large meals and are a good introduction to Lagos’s cuisine and distinctive philosophy around cooking and eating. Readers will enjoy reading about customs like buka, local ingredients, and the tips and tricks Komolafe uses to re-create recipes and memories when she is far from home. The page design is playful and features illustrations by Diana Ejaita, who is also from the Nigerian diaspora. For some readers, this will be a nostalgic journey through food, while for others this will be an exploration of culture; it will be tasty and satisfying for everyone.