While chefs might not be able to get their hands on some of Chan’s ingredients they will appreciate his precise instructions and the fact that the recipes are presented are taken directly from Ikoyi’s own recipe folder. Toss the peppers, onions, ginger, garlic, and chiles lightly in the remaining grapeseed oil and place in an even layer on the hot grill.

After witnessing the smoking firewood under pots of jollof cooked in Lagos, I knew that the concept of burning must lie at the heart of our dish, too. The visual presentation is worthy of a coffee-table place of honor, but the book would be equally worthy of a splatter-prone place of use on the kitchen island. If you grow up in a Chinese family, you’re exposed to so many amazing flavors and types of ingredients: jellyfish, chicken feet, dumplings, noodles, all kinds of ingredients and ways of eating that you just don’t get with a Western upbringing. It could apply to someone studying fashion or design or anyone with a creative impetus that wants to think creatively about a concept or distance themselves from subject matter to open the horizons to influences and ideas. I went on to create the greatest defense mechanism I could think of: a powerful jollof broth, a vehicle of umami-laden depth, followed by layers of aroma, smokiness, and an all-out assault on the palate.The sheep-kebab essay is the funniest one to me because it’s about being a child and being fascinated with this giant piece of fake meat—gray and extremely depressing looking—impaled by a skewer. The book includes narratives throughout illustrating Ikoyi’s inspiration and inception, as influenced by Chan’s experiences living, cooking, and traveling in Hong Kong, Canada, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe. Since opening in 2017, it has become a culinary destination: impressing diners and critics alike with its bold West African-inspired flavors, innovative combinations of spices with the freshest British ingredients, and striking, textured, minimalist-leaning aesthetics. Elsewhere, he charts Ikoyi’s struggle to stay open the first year, despite glowing reviews, and how a passion for exceptional seasonal produce has continued to drive everything on the menu. Along with the other recent triumph of “BAO” that I loved, I look forward to this new focus on chef-centric storytelling and artful presentations of the worlds greatest restaurants and cuisines.

This coupled with Ikoyi’s focus on often obscure spices means that most will have their work cut out obtaining the ingredients necessary to replicate his recipes. The book includes narratives throughout illustrating Ikoyi’s inspiration and inception, as influenced by Chan’s experiences living, cooking, and traveling in Hong Kong, Canada, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe. My mom is Chinese American, also Cantonese, and I was thinking about how I might feel if, say, a white chef did that with Cantonese ingredients—use them regardless of their contexts.As chef and cofounder of the two-Michelin-starred London restaurant Ikoyi, Chan is certainly familiar with resisting easy labels. He insisted we stick with jollof, espousing the open-minded belief that there was no one true authority on the dish. My intention was never to attempt to elevate any preexisting concept but instead to elaborate on an original recipe centered around the core ingredients of the dish: tomatoes, onions, peppers, chiles, spices, and a variety of meat, fish, or vegetables. After finely chopping ginger, spring onions, and garlic, he poured boiling hot oil over the vegetables, which bubbled and fizzled in the inferno of wok-breath heat.

Add them to the pot with the reduced tomatoes, along with all the spices and the crayfish powder, Tabasco, tamari, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black garlic, sugar, and smoked salt.

Today Jeremy is at the forefront of the gastronomic landscape, blending his dishes with spice, flavor, and his personal experiences. Standout dishes: Smoked Jollof rice and crab custard; fried Landes chicken and chicken offal hot sauce. Leave to cool at room temperature, breaking it up with your hands and adding some cold butter and oil to further break apart the grains. Toast all the spices in a wide frying pan until fragrant, then blitz to a fine powder in a spice grinder.