Food is the social jelly of our lives. We make new friends and consolidate existing ones around meals; we use food to mark events in our life; we share in our joys and sorrowings by breaking bread together. There is a connection between certain food and where it comes from. Can there be a North American thanksgiving without turkey and pumpkin pie? Or a Dragon Boat Festival in China without zhong-zi? Mexico without Tapas? India without curry?

Besides the standard information necessary to these 60 delicious recipes from islands all over the world - their ingredients and method of preparation - editors Anna and Godfrey Baldacchino elaborate on what each signature dish tells us about its island: its historical-anthropological story.