In Senegal, the midday meal is taken around a large communal dish placed on a mat or low table. Each person eats the portion in front of them, using the right hand or a spoon, and the host places the best pieces in front of the guests. This commensality — *teranga* — structures the day more than any notion of starter or dessert: there is the midday rice or millet base dish, snacks, conversation drinks, and sharing dishes offered beyond the household.

The salty-umami soul of Senegalese cuisine lies in three powerful ferments: *guedj* (dried fermented fish), *yet* (strong-smelling fermented marine mollusk), and *néré* (fermented African locust bean seeds, "nététou"). A few pieces are enough to give the rice a depth that neither salt nor tomato can match.