Ep. 2 The Jollof Wars
Welcome to The Jollof Wars! The yummiest battle of all time!
If you've ever witnessed two West Africans debate whose jollof rice is the best, just know they’re arguing over food, cultural heritage, and centuries of tradition. In this episode of the Destiny African Market(ing) Podcast, we explore the history behind the Jollof Wars, its ancient roots in the Wolof Empire to the social media frenzy that united the African diaspora. Plus, we share how Destiny African Market proudly represented at Boston's Jollof Festival in 2022.
Whether you're Team Nigeria, Team Ghana, Team Senegal, this is a story of how one ICONIC dish connects us all.
Podcast Transcript
The Jollof Wars
Introduction
Welcome back to the Destiny African Marketing Podcast. I'm so glad you're here with us today. My name is Bukky. I am the marketing director and store manager here at Destiny African Market. This is where we celebrate African culture, cuisine and the incredible stories that connect our diaspora from Randolph to Accra, from Lagos and beyond. Today, we're going deep into one of the most spirited debates in West African culture. You already know what it is the Jollof Wars. Now, if you've ever been to a West African party, a wedding, family gathering, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The moment someone mentions jollof rice, the room divides faster than you can say pass the pepe. Right. Nigerians claim that theirs is the best. Ghanaians insist that theirs are the best. Senegalese will remind you they invented it and honestly, they're all right and they're all wrong. Here's the beautiful thing. The Jollof wars aren't really about winning. They're about pride, heritage, and joy. You know, of sharing something we all love. So today, let's just explore how this friendly rivalry started, why it matters, and how it brought us all together at the festival right here in Boston in 2022.
Where It All Began: The Ancient Roots of Jollof
So before we talk about the wars, let's talk about the origins. Because to really understand this rivalry, you really have to understand, you know, the beginning and really respect the story of the beginning. Right. So jollof rice traces its roots back to the ancient Wolof empire. Um, or some call it the Jollof Kingdom, um, which thrived between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries in what is now Senegal, parts of the Gambia, Mali and Mauritania. So those four countries. So this empire was a powerhouse of trade culture. Rice. They had fishing communities along the Senegal River, particularly around what we call Saint-Louis. They perfected a dish they called. See, I'm always going to mess this name up, but I think it's called Thiéboudienne (or Ceebu jën) Um, which really translates to rice and fish and Wolof. So this is where the history gets a little interesting, right? Because the tomato, which is what makes jollof rice red, is that essential ingredient. Um, you know, we can't really imagine life without that. It wasn't even native to Africa, right? It came from the Americas through Portuguese traders in the fourteen hundreds. And when tomatoes met West African rice dishes through the Atlantic trade routes and colonial period, magic happened. So between 1860 and 1940, as French colonizers introduced broken rice imported from Indochina, suddenly Senegalese chefs and cooks um transformed their traditional rice dishes into what would become the foundation of golf as we know it today. So over time, as trade routes expanded and people migrated across Africa, West Africa, specifically, the dish, you know, evolved, right? So we can say that, you know, Nigerians, cook cooks, brought the smokiness and the heat. Ghanaians introduced like the aromatic basmati and jasmine rice. You know, to make jollof with a sweeter profile. Liberians simplified it. You can say Sierra Leoneans made it their own. Cameroonians added their flair and suddenly, you know, one dish became one hundred different dishes created in many, many different varieties. Right?
The Birth of the Jollof Wars
So when did a beloved dish that is shared across so many countries and peoples become a friendly battle? The wars as we know them today exploded? Um, I would say in the early 2010s, it was fueled by social media memes and, you know, that kind of passionate cultural pride that like, only food can inspire. So platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, you know, became digital battlegrounds where Nigerians and Ghanaians specifically we like to call ourselves cousins. Um, you know, where the two most vocal competitors, many competitors in the love for us. But I think Nigerians and and Ghanaians are the most vocal. This is where we would go back and forth, you know, defending our version of the dish. So in 2016, this girl named artist Sister Deborah released a song called Ghana Jollof which took shots at Nigerian Jollof and Nigerians Pride in our version of jollof. So of course, Nigerians, you know, clap back with their own videos, memes and reminders. You know that Nigerian party jollof is the best, right? That smoky, perfectly seasoned rice cooked over the firewood that gets irresistibly crispy at the bottom. And that's why we call it, you know, the bottom pot. People like to eat, you know, from the bottom. But, you know, this war wasn't just online. There was even like a physical incident in Ghana that I read about where a fight broke out at a political party or a political rally or something over, like the amount of jollof that was left. So Nigerians on social media had a field day with that, you know, saying, see Ghanaians fight over jollof because there's not enough good, they don't have enough good jollof around, you know, things like that. Right? So the rivalry, you know, was both digital and physical. But this is where it became really, really beautiful. A celebrity chef, Chef Pierre Thiam who's Senegalese by the way, he said in an interview I would take a jollof for over an actual war any day. It's a fun war. The great thing about it is that it will never see a winner, and I think that is just so dope and so incredible. And that's what makes this fun, right? And that's what makes this a friendly rivalry. I hope people aren't really punching each other left or right, over left, right. It's not that deep. We can eat everybody's rice, right?
What Makes Each Version Special?
So let's break down what makes each country's jollof unique, because I think understanding the differences really helps us appreciate why everyone's so passionate about their country's version. So Nigerian jollof. And by the way, I am Nigerian. I'm not biased because like I said at Destiny we will eat everybody's food. But Nigerian jollof is bold, right? It's smoky. It's spicy. It's made with long grain parboiled rice, a rich tomato based, um, stew heavy on the bell peppers. We season with Scotch bonnets, habanero. Um, and, you know the secret weapon for us, it's not really a secret, is the smokiness. Sometimes people overdo it with the smokiness. And jollof rice tastes burnt. And I think oftentimes most people experience that type of Nigerian jollof. That is not Nigerian jollof. Okay. Um, but the smokiness is on point. Um, party jollof in the Nigerian world is an art form. So there's different types of jollof across different cultures. You can have party jollof, you have house jollof, you know, you have the ready made Jollof. Right. So there's different versions. But Party Jollof is the most popular form of Jollof that we make in Nigeria. And as one chef put it, there is no party without jollof and party. Jollof is quite different from Homecooked. Like I said, so that rice really gets like that distinctive reddish orange hue. So like it's really, really reddish orange like very, very strong, like distinguishably red. All right. So Angela. Angela takes a different approach in my opinion. It's aromatic. It's a little bit sweeter. Um, they use basmati or jasmine rice, so it makes it a little bit more stickier and gooey. Um, the tomato sauce is a little lighter. Hence why the the color of the rice comes out a little lighter. Um, I've noticed that people use, uh. And please correct me if I'm wrong. If you're listening to this, please don't vex. So I'm just saying my own. So, like, I think they, um, season it with curry powder and nutmeg. And oftentimes Ghanaians vegetables like carrots and peas and even meats and stuff like that. So in Nigeria, we don't do that. Nigerian jollof is just plain old Jollof. No meat, no vegetables, nothing. But in the Ghanaian world, you'll see, you'll you know, you'll see that variation where people will, you know, make it a mixed rice with different spices, um, veggies and proteins. Now Senegalese jollof. Like I said, she began again. Please do not vex that I said it wrong. This Senegalese jollof is the original. It's the blueprint. It typically uses broken jasmine rice, um, and traditionally served with fish or shellfish and an array of vegetables like eggplant, carrots, cabbage, all of the things get me. So one chef chef pinto da that I read calls, um, Senegalese jollo as an “umami bomb.” And here's the cultural difference. Senegalese Zoloft is often served family style on a large platter where everyone kind of eats together, really emphasizing like community and like the communal aspect of the meal. Then you have other contenders like Liberia and Sierra Leone, and Jollof, which includes seafood. Um, some people use red palm oil. In Nigeria, we see that as an abomination. But I mean, it's all really good. I've tasted all of these and they taste amazing.
UNESCO Settles It (But Not Really)
So really quickly, here's who tried to settle the jollof wars. Like, literally, you would not believe who tried to settle the Jollof wars. Like, you would think that this is actually a war. So believe it or not, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization we will now call Unesco try to settle this war. In January of 2023, they made waves when they officially recognized Senegal's Tchividjian. Um, on their representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity. So this is basically a list that emphasizes cultural foods that are basically representative of the culture, right? And so they said, Senegal, you know, you invented this, and we're acknowledging it as a part of, you know, human cultural heritage and history. Right. That's really huge, right? Because at the end of the day, it is what it is. Jollof comes from Senegal, period, right. Like there's no ifs, ands or buts about that, you know, and many thought that this was settled jollof rice once and for all. Senegal won. The origin is confirmed. The debate is is over, right? But here's the thing. Nigerians and Ghanaians were not having it on Twitter. People were quick to point out that Unesco settled who created it, but now who makes it better? Another food a Nigerian food enthusiast or influencer wrote. Who doesn't know that Senegal and Gambia invented jollof like? Not Ghana and Nigeria not fighting for invention, but who cooks it better? And I think that's pretty fair. Like I don't think anybody ever, you know, took Senegal out of the chat. We know y'all created it. We love y'all. Best thing y'all ever did. But you know, we know how to make it better. And that's really the crux of the conversation. To me, I just think that's like a, you know, honest and perfect response because roads were just really never about the origin. I know people love like anytime this is happening or conversation, people are always like to point out, oh, Senegal created it. But like again, we were never arguing about who was the creator, right? I think what we're fighting about is execution. We're fighting about flavor, and we're really fighting for our cultural pride. Right? So, you know, I really love, you know, the fun rivalry around this, but it's also, you know, very, very important, you know, to, to to pay homage.
The Jollof Festival: Bringing the Diaspora Together
Now this is where the Jollof festival comes in. All this passion debate needed a place to actually settle and live. And that's where we go to my guy, my really good friend Ishmael Osekre the Jollof Festival creator, he created the Jollof Festival specifically to transform the online debates into actual real life experiences. He once said in the news, I thought simply talking about who has the best Jollod instead of experiencing experiencing it wasn't the best way. So I took the opportunity to create a festival actually to taste and judge who has the best Jollof. The concept is actually really brilliant. Chefs from different West African countries compete head to head. Festival goers receive different colored bowls of jollof, each representing a different country. But you're not told which one is which. So you really taste and and vote and judge this jollof based off of your sensibilities, right? You don't know whether this is Nigerian, Ghanaian, Senegalese, Senegalese, Liberian. You don't know, right? So I really love, you know, the festival. For that reason, the festival started really small but quickly grew into a traveling celebration, almost like a worldwide tour, right? So they make stops all around the world, but particularly in the United States, Chicago, Houston, Charlotte, Washington, and yes, Boston. Each event is part food competition, part cultural celebration that includes music, dance, art, vendors, so on and so forth. And what I think is really remarkable is while it's called the Jollof Wars, the festival kind of does the opposite of the divide, it really unites us, right? So as food writer writer Nyla Iqbal Muhammad said, observed said as she observed the festival in Chicago, she said the debate over rice jollof rice brings people together in a healthy and friendly way. I've seen this rivalry bring together people who thought they didn't have much in common besides their rice. So that's really, really dope. And, you know, shout out to ish for everything he's doing. Um, for the culture.
Destiny African Market at Jollof Festival Boston 2022
All right. So this brings us right back home. Um, here to Randolph destiny African market back in October, September, October. I think it was actually August. Y'all have to correct me. I I believe it was in the summer, like August, September, October, that season of 2022. This is the first time that Jollof fest came to Boston. It was held at the Academy of Creative Arts in Burlington and five countries competed, I believe. I believe it was Ghana. Of course. We represented Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal. And, you know, we were really excited to compete. It was our first time ever competing. We did not win. Um, but for those who don't know the full story, Destiny African Market was founded by chef Sola Ajao, who opened their doors in November 2021, after years and years and years of cooking and catering West African dishes from home and from ghost kitchens. Um, and she really built her reputation in the community as having the best jollof rice like everybody knows. Yeah, like mommy, like, whatever you want to call her chef. She makes the best Nigerian jollof hands down in Massachusetts. Like, that's not even a debate, right? So when the festival came to Boston in 2022, you know, it was really a chance to showcase what Destiny had been building. Um, what chef had been building all, you know, all these years? Um, and the event was amazing. You know, it was the very first time it came to Boston. So of course, there logistical hiccups and stuff like that, but it has, um, come back to Boston every year since, um, and I believe, you know, the festival was true to its spirit of the jollof wars. Everybody had an opinion. Some loved the smokiness, some people preferred fluffier jollof. Some people wanted their jollof to be really, really red. You know, some people went back for seconds on the Liberian, uh, jollof and the Nigerian jollof, you know, and at the end when the colors were revealed and the votes were tallied, you know, there was a celebration, some, you know, good natured disappointment. I surely was disappointed that destiny didn't win. Um, but most importantly, we found community in one another. And that's, to me, is what, you know, made the event incredible. Um, because what's left, you know, festival, you know, what is it? That's what it's really about, right? It's about crowning a winner. It's about creating a space for our culture to be seen, tasted and celebrated. And destiny is always excited to be a part of those conversations.
Why the Jollof Wars Matter
So why do the Jollof Wars matter, right? Why should we care about a friendly rivalry over rice? Right? Because the Warriors really represent something much deeper than food to us. They represent cultural pride in a world that often overlooks and purposely overlooks or minimizes African contributions to food. Right. The wars really represent this resilience of the diasporic African diasporic communities who maintain their traditions. Whether we go across oceans, generation or generations, they represent the power of food to bring people together. Even when we're just playfully arguing about who is best. Right. Um, chef Kwame Amuh excuse me, who studied this history for his thesis thesis at Drexel University. Um, pointed out that Gallup's evolution is tied directly to the Atlantic slave trade, colonization, and forced and voluntary movement of people and ingredients across continents. Right. So if you think about the tomatoes from the Americas, the rice cultivation from West Africa, the one pot cooking method born of necessity and ingenuity, the ways each country adapted the dish to their available ingredients and tastes. All of it is history written in food. Right. And so in America, whether you're eating at a Nigerian wedding or Charleston red red rice, at Gullah Geechee Family Reunion, or at a Trinidadian lime or jambalaya in Louisiana, you're participating in a culinary tradition that connects back to West Africa, right? To those fishing communities in Senegal, to those rice fields in the Wolof empire.
Closing
So the Jollof wars aren't really dividing us. They're just revealing our shared roots while celebrating our unique expressions. So where do we stand in the Gulf War today? Who really makes the best jollof. The answer is whoever's cooking it for you with love. Your grandmother makes the best jollof. your caterer at your cousin's wedding makes the best jollof. Destiny African Market makes the best jollof. The restaurant you discovered in Dorchester makes the best jollof. Because ultimately, jollof is more, uh, than than just taste. It's about memory. It's about community and the way a single dish can carry the weight of history while bringing joy to the present moment. Here at Destiny African Market, we're honored to be part of that tradition. Whether you're Team Nigeria, Team Ghana, Team Senegal or team I just love good food, which is me. We're here to serve you. And who knows, maybe we'll see you at the next festival. Thank you for joining us on the Destiny African Marketing Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone who needs to hear about the job force, or someone who just needs a good excuse to come by the store and grab some jollof for themselves. Until next time!
