Malawi

Every Malawian meal circles back to two things: nsima and the lake. Nsima, a stiff white maize porridge, is rolled into a ball in the hand and dipped into whatever 'relish' is going — beans, groundnut-stewed greens, a piece of meat. But the plate everyone waits for is chambo, a tilapia found only in Lake Malawi, grilled whole over charcoal at a lakeside stall until the skin crackles.

The lake gives more than chambo: tiny dried usipa fried crisp by the handful, catfish, a whole freshwater larder. Groundnuts are the quiet secret of the kitchen, ground into greens and relishes the country over. Wash it down with a cold Carlsberg — brewed right here in Blantyre, one of Africa's oldest breweries — or a locally made Malawi Gin. Simple, generous, lake-fresh eating.