BonVivant

The restaurant has a rooftop terrace where I had my lunch. Chicken and preserved lemon. Inside was full (and beautiful).

Lunch in Azrou on an excursion to the middle Atlas. I thought it was just vegs but deep inside there's beef. Lamb and merguez. My food being cooked. Looks very "modern" and "clean" here, though not a common sight.

Dinner in the dark again, literally. I have brightened the photos considerably. Meatball tagine, broad bean soup and couscous with some sweet fruits. Kitchen is directly in front of me behind the screen and the only light. To my right. In reality it's dark as a toom.

Dinners in the dark. Had to do it once, camel burger. "Gamey" but not as strong as yak burger in Lhasa. Don't care for both. This restaurant is run by a cooking school. Employees are "millennials" and serving style is hipsterish. All vegetables, plus some teeth-meltingly sweet things on the same plate. Morocco's most typical soup. Pigeon pastilla ("pie") is a formal speciality of Fez which has to be ordered in advance. Chicken version is less formal and easier to find.

An excursion to see the Roman ruins and then ended up in medieval Meknes where I had lunch. Giant white bean soup/stew. Merguez Morocco is obsessed with symmetry and patterns. Even on my salad plate. An employee took me around to show me what they had and I pointed at what I wanted.

Lunch in Fez, Morocco. Little things and bread first. Morocco is land of dates, palms and olives. Full name of Morocco in Arabic. Typical Moroccan dishes they serve here. First thing I ate after 16 hours.

A temporary pause from Okinawan dinners. Today my dinner is in Fez, culinary capital of Morocco. The medina is enthralling, the tiles are gorgeous. The fascination is immediate and intense. Unfortunate looking food but it's good. Mince is springy and nicely seasoned. Meat is very tender and mild. There are so many tiny grilled meat shops in the medina but this little poster caught my attention so I decided to go in to try the lamb. Turned out I made a good choice. When I say the shop is tiny... about 2 metres across, one communal table and three benches around it, one florescent lamp, blaring tiny old tv above me. You are given a sheet of paper to eat your bread on it. Kind owners and customers. Man on my right gave me half of his olives. This place allows customers to bring their own store-bought olives and greens. He's a teacher and speaks English. He drank the rest of his chilli sauce. And partner thought only I would do such a thing. Watching football on tv above me and tending the bbq. Her partner's turn. She was taking a break. Today I learnt how Moroccans eat their kebab. There's no white, garlicky sauce and raw onion rings like how Turks like theirs. She offered me a piece of chicken to try but I was already full. She let me make this photo then wanted to see other photos I made of this meal. They brought a wide smile to her face.

At my lodging on Iriomote island. Braised and glazed chicken wings. Dinner at home. With Späzle.

Lunch on Ishigaki before taking the bouncy ferry to Iriomote island. Wanted to try something new: Okinawan screw pine, AKA pandanus palm. It's a common plant in Okinawa. Ishigaki island has its own beef production. (About Ishigaki beef) My lunch at home. Everything comes from the North Sea and (north) Atlantic.

Lunch in in the big city Düsseldorf . Mettwurst is a type of lightly smoked sausage. Green stuff is "rapini" with potatoes. Can never trust anyone not to overcook my liver. I usually sit in this area where it fills up last. At peak meal times you won't be able to choose any specific table. Servers are all males and usually middle-aged. All door handles in the toilets are in the shape of their wooden beer casks. They only have one beer and it is cask-dispensed. At another brewery shortly after. Unfortunately it was so dark the photo didn't turn out. On the plate are a few cold things: raw pork mince, liver paté, brawn. Picked up some Lebkuchen before heading back. Also Spekulatius here, @Kim Shook.

Iriomote island, dinner at my lodging. Owners and their families are pineapple and mango farmers who run the guest house and do all the cooking. Workers stay and eat here during harvesting season. Good food every day but the best thing is the island itself. Tuna and marlin. Home-made flavoured liquor. My own dinner at home. Didn't like the first photo so I made it again with leftover puree.

The only place to eat lunch on the island. Same soup with seaweed and soft tofu. Breakfast at my lodging. My lunch at home.

Kuroshima island, dinner at my lodging. My dinner at home.

Flew from Yonaguni island to Ishigaki to take the ferry to Taketomi island. Lunch on Ishigaki before leaving for Taketomi. (Forgot to make a sign for Ishigaki) The "national dish" of Okinawa again. Ishigaki island produces their own beef and is quite proud of it. At home. Leftover buckwheat dumplings. Got right back on my cheese diet after 4 weeks of rice.

Mother of guest house's owner makes all the meals. Want to eat real Okinawan home cooking then stay at a family run guest house. Up until this point I have been to the capital Naha, farthest west of Japan Yonaguni island, Taketomi island and now Kuroshima island. Stewed trotter is one of the most popular dishes in Okinawa. Tiny portion of stir-fried bitter melon. They even deep fry seaweed here. My own dinner at home. Buckwheat dumplings with Comté.

My guest house on Taketomi island makes simple meals. At least they have marlin sashimi, which is king on Yonaguni island. This reminds me of "3 cup chicken", a typical meal in Taiwan. That is not surprising given the proximity to Taiwan and culinary influences from when the Ryukyu kingdom used to trade with various nations in the region. Most common seaweed in Okinawa.

Last lunch on Yonaguni island. Citrus depressa Taketomi island. There are only a couple of places on the island to eat lunch and they are closed at 5pm. Dinner is served at one's lodging. Yaeyama soba broth is made from skipjack tuna, pork bones and kombu. Meat is almost always braised pork. Condiment is rice liquor infused chillies. Even when you eat something with rice this noodle soup is served in a tiny bowl alongside. Yaeyama islands are a group of islands in the Ryukyu archipelago. They were incorporated into Japan only in the 70's.

The "national dish" of Okinawa. Japan's highest pork consumption is in Okinawa. My beer being tapped.

Okinawans are some of the world's biggest Spam eaters. There's only one little convenience shop at a rest stop on the way to the aquarium (2 hours by bus from the capital). I got my Okinawan packed lunch there. I have an irrational reaction to the texture of sticky paste. The purple sweet potato filling is nice, though. Okinawan sticky paste is near impossible to break. Easiest way is using a knife, yes, it's that hard.

The highest quality of dried bonito is from Okinawa, where it is also most consumed. Japanese philosophy: Let little seem like much, so long as it's fresh and natural. I shall add "and beautifully presented". Later somewhere else, the only place that's open on a sunday.

My guesthouse's home-cooking on Yonaguni island. Okinawans eat a bit of everything and there's always seaweed and tofu in some form. The cuisine of Okinawa is a mix of other countries' with whom the former Ryukyu kingdom used to trade.

First thing I saw when leaving Naha airport. Didn't know what it was until I went to the supermarket a few hours later. Very much my thing! Portion for one person. Looks like Chinese version but tastes better (to me). Not really salty, a lot like cheese drenched in Okinawan distilled rice liquor. Very nice!

Okinawan soba soups. Can't escape rice, even when you eat noodles. (At home I eat rice maybe once a week.) It's OK. Much prefer goma/sesame "tofu" I had in Koyasan.

At my guest house. In a village on the other side of the island later. Boneless trotter, with toes. So far the best Yonagunian soba soups I've had. The tiny noodle shop has 3 kinds and I pointed at these 2. Very pleased with what I got. You can use any noodle but if the broth is worthless then there's really no point. There's a prawn farm in the village just down the road.

I stayed at a traditional guest house on Yonaguni island where home-style meals are included in the price. Seaweed of some kind is served with almost every meal, no matter how small the amount. Japan already holds the record for longevity but the highest concentration of centenarians is found in the Ryukyu archipelago. (Look up the well documented Blue Zone study) Impossible to photograph this seaweed soup. Mahi and marlin are some of the most common fish around here (but marlin is king). Only tasted the sauce and I stopped there. Sauce had Japanese mayo and hard-boiled egg. I would have made it with miso (butter). Squid and celery tasted buttery to me. Went to a restaurant a few doors down the road for beer and more sashimi. Locally made booze is 60%. The men drink both beer and booze at the same time.