In Abeokuta as throughout Yoruba country, the meal is organized around a supple starch paste (pounded yam *iyan*, or later cassava *eba*) familiarly called the 'swallow': you pinch off a small ball with your right hand, hollow it with your thumb, and use it to scoop up a thick, oily soup. The soup (*egusi*, *ewedu*, *ila*) is the true heart of the dish; the swallow is merely the vehicle. Around it revolve street fritters, festive rice dishes, and red drinks. The meal is taken communally, by hand, and in the Ransome-Kuti household it was also the stage for great political discussions.

Two pillars of Yoruba cuisine: red palm oil (*epo pupa*), fatty and orange-hued, which gives color and depth to almost every soup; and *egusi*, ground melon seed that thickens and brings an almost meaty umami roundness. Together, they signature the table of Abeokuta.