We can't cook without stockfish." That's the verdict of women at the bustling Onyingbo market in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, as they carefully choose pieces of the specially dried cod.

Stockfish is cod that is dried naturally, without using salt. It's one the most coveted sources of protein in Nigeria, where a one-kilogram bag sells for $65, seven times as much as other popular ...

From the rainbow-hued pearl lobsters of Indonesia and the baby eels of Spain to the giant Copper River king salmon of Alaska and Nigeria's cod stockfish, dried thousands of miles away in the cold ...