Each chapter of this cookbook opens with a quick rundown of the particular African country, followed by profiles of grandmothers (bibis) from that country, and those little interviews are the heart of this book. Their stories help the food come to life not just as recipes, but as parts of their lives and their cultures. My favorite question in the interviews was always “Why did you choose to make ____ to share with us?” because the answers were always so adorable: usually because it was a traditional food, but also “because it’s an easy weeknight meal and my kids love it,” or “everyone always compliments me when I make this dish for gatherings.” It adds so much more context to the recipe to imagine it as a weekday staple for a big family, or as an often-anticipated party dish. There aren’t a lot of African cookbooks out there in the Western world, much less African home cooking from specific countries, so this book definitely stands out in the genre; also, the bibi angle made it just incredibly sweet to read. I loved also that the authors found bibis to interview not just in their native countries, but also women whose journeys took them to foreign countries where they still found ways to cook the food of their people. The book is also written with a Western audience in mind; ingredient substitutions are helpfully offered in multiple places in the book, as well as very practical cooking and serving suggestions. My favorite bit in one recipe was clearly an adorable interjection by a worried bibi: a caution to be careful when handling hot things; in her country they have “kitchen hands” but Westerners should use oven mitts. Adding this to my list of books to get hardcopies of when we finally settle down.