Equatoria Guinea

On a humid morning in Malabo, the stalls of the central market begin to stir. Vendors arrange pyramids of mangoes and bananas, fishermen lay out the morning’s catch on beds of melting ice, and the air thickens with the scent of chili, coriander, and wood smoke from nearby cookfires. These markets, whether in the island capital or in small inland towns, are not merely spaces of commerce but crossroads of culture, community, and tradition. Equatorial Guinea, a small Central African nation with both island and mainland territories, draws much of its culinary character from its geography. Tropical forests and fertile soils provide a steady supply of fruit—pineapples, papayas, bananas—while the...