It takes just rice, cooking oil, tomato, onion, red pepper, ginger, curry powder and scotch bonnet to prepare a popular West African delicacy, that has been in existence since the 14th century.
Jollof rice can be traced to the Senegambia region that was ruled by the Wolof or Jolof Empire in the 14 century.
A woman who lived close to the Senegal Delta River substituted rice for barley, a cereal grain during a barley shortage and prepared the first Jollof using rice, fish, vegetables, and tomatoes.
Since then, Jollof from this region travelled to other countries and to West Africa where the creative culinary magic of Nigerians and Ghanaians played with the concept of the dish.
The meal has its roots in a traditional dish called thieboudienne- containing rice, fish, shellfish and vegetables.
The Jollof is home in the Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cameroon, and more than a third of Africans, emerging as an icon across borders with a diversified array of recipes.
The former empire is located in parts of Senegal, Gambian and Mauritania. With rice farming becoming prominent across the Senegal River, this region became known as the Grain Coast.
In 1300, the Wolof Empire conquered most of West Africa. Along with the conquest, they brought their traditional ‘Wolof’dish with them. the rice-based dish gradually morphed into ‘Jollof’ spreading and taking on the personality of the people in the regions its spreads to. This gave birth to the different types of Jollof.
In 1448, the Portuguese developed trading posts by the river, and introduced goods, including tomatoes, which would become essential to the development of the dish.
However, the impact of Jollof rice extends beyond west Africa to Europe and other continents with similar meals like Paella in Spain, Risotto in Italy, biriyani in India and fried rice in China.
Nigerians and Ghanaians are particularly competitive over who makes the best Jollof, Nigerians use long-grain rice that absorbs more spices, while Ghanaians use basmati rice with a more aromatic flavour.
The popularity of the Jollof has extended beyond Africa’s shores and inspired Jollof festivals all over the world, as well as its national day — August 22.
Read also: Cost of making Jollof rises by 8% in four months
Google celebrates jollof rice
Google, a tech giant dedicates November 4 to celebrating jollof rice. To celebrate jollof rice, the word “Google” was spelt using the dish.
A click on the doodle opens up a video highlighting the major ingredients for the dish.
“On this day each year, rice farmers plant and reap a bountiful harvest, and cooks across West Africa prepare to make fresh Jollof,” Google said in a statement.
The Google doodle which was created with stop-motion animation of food, unpacks one of the world’s great dishes, with its ingredients dancing to a tune.
Doodles are the fun, surprising and sometimes interactive changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers and scientists.
For the Jollof doodle, Haneefah Adam, a Nigerian artist created the artwork and Hervé Samb, a Senegalese jazz musician, created the soundtrack.
Haneefah Adam said she approached the doodle as “a celebration of culture — not just my culture, but of everyone who recognizes food as a conduit.
“The diversity of how we approach food is really interesting — like how the preparation of Jollof is different in Nigeria vs. Senegal (they even have different names). This just goes to show the richness and beauty of our collective culture as a continent. It has been a privilege to shine a light on this aspect of my culture with food and I hope to be able to continue to share beautiful stories out of Nigeria,” Adam said.
How to make Nigerian Jollof rice
The delicacy traditionally consists of rice, cooking oil, tomato, onion, red pepper, ginger, curry powder and scotch bonnet.
To prepare it, blend the red bell peppers, tomatoes, scotch bonnet and one onion to a smooth paste and set aside.
Add the cooking oil into a large pot, place the pot on medium heat. Add half-sliced onion which should take 15 to 20 minutes.
While that is frying, wash the rice thoroughly. If you are choosing to parboil your rice, parboil for 5-8 minutes with little water on low heat. The rice should still be very firm and not soft, wash with warm water and set aside.
When oil floats to the top, add the chicken/ meat stock, cover and let it fry for a further 8-10 minutes.
Then add the rice, cover it with a foil sheet, and continue to cook for another 10 minutes. Add chopped onions, tomatoes and butter if you want to use it, stir to combine and leave the rice to simmer away until tender.
