Nauru

Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, a raised coral speck with a narrow fertile ring around a mined-out interior, and its food tells that story. The national dish is coconut fish — raw reef fish or tuna dressed in coconut milk with lime — and the traditional plate leans on the same reef catch simmered in coconut cream, with pandanus and coconut the two crops that grow on the thin coastal soil. Ibija, a preserved pandanus-fruit paste folded with coconut cream, is the distinctive old preparation.

A century of phosphate mining stripped away most of the arable land, so the modern table depends heavily on imports — supply ships arrive only every six to eight weeks, and Chinese-run takeaways, a legacy of migrant labour, are the everyday go-to alongside tinned corned beef and rice. The freshest eating is still what comes off the reef. Take it to Anibare Bay, coral pinnacles at your back, and eat with the ocean.