Samuelsson visits Wazobia Market to learn about a variety of soups, tribal foods, and dishes like jollof rice. He checks out preserved fish, goat heads, and different kinds of bottled sauces.

One of the first Nigerian restaurants in Houston, Safari is a family-run operation. Samuelsson learns how to make fufu, a staple dish made from boiled and mashed yam, with owner Margaret “Safari” Jason. He eats it alongside a stew with okra, bonefish, and goat.

Samuelsson visits Suya Hut, where he learns that these marinated chicken and beef skewers originate in northern Nigeria, but that they’re eaten across the country. The host makes suya with chef and owner Patricia Nyan and shares a meal inside the restaurant.

In Houston’s Galleria neighborhood, Taste of Nigeria owners Oye and Tiffaney Odewale wanted to create a restaurant that served the city’s entire West African community, not just Nigeria-born Nigerians, as well as people who are interested about learning more about West African cuisine. Employees come from across West Africa, not just Nigeria, and the influences show on the menu. Samuelsson learns to make ceebu jen (stewed fish served with rice and vegetables) and enjoys a catfish pepper soup.

Chef Jonathan Rhodes’s restaurant, Indigo, focuses on the history of soul food. As Rhodes puts it, “If you’re going to have soul food authentically, you have to have it from an authentic area, because soul food isn’t made from rich ingredients, it’s made from leftovers and things that are passed down and overlooked.” At Indigo, he cooks dishes like dry-aged pheasant filled with jollof rice, as well as candied yams with smoked pecan butter, granola, and torched marshmallows.