jollof rice

The Jolof or Wolof Empire was a confederacy state that ruled parts of West Africa situated in modern-day Senegal, Mali, The Gambia and Mauritania from around the 12th century{{cite book |last1=Boulègue |first1=Jean |title=Le Grand Jolof, XIIIe-XVIe siècle |date=1987 |publisher=Façades |isbn=9782907233002 |location=Blois |language=fr}}{{Cite book |last1=Gamble |first1=David P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TwIOAQAAMAAJ |title=Peoples of the Gambia: The Wolof. I |last2=Salmon |first2=Linda K. |last3=Njie |first3=Alhaji Hassan |date=1985 |publisher=San Francisco State University, Department of Anthropology |pages=3 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Sallah |first=Tijan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VdANcnMEWYAC&dq=capital+of+jolof+warxox&pg=PA33 |title=Wolof: (Senegal) |date=1995-12-15 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc |isbn=978-0-8239-1987-1 |language=en}} and was later known as the Jolof Kingdom. According to African food historian Fran Osseo-Asare, the origins of jollof rice can be traced to the area, where rice was grown; the original dish was known as thieboudienne or thiebou djeun,{{Cite news |last=Komolafe |first=Yewande |author-link=Yewande Komolafe |date=2019-06-24 |title=Yewande Komolafe's 10 Essential Nigerian Recipes |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/24/dining/nigerian-food-yewande-komolafe.html |access-date=2023-09-18 |issn=0362-4331}} and contains rice, fish, shellfish and vegetables. If made with meat, it is called ceebu yapp. The fishing communities of Saint-Louis are considered the birthplace of thieboudienne.{{Cite news |last=Komolafe |first=Yewande |author-link=Yewande Komolafe |date=2023-09-18 |title=The Queen of West African Recipes Has Entered the Chat |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/18/dining/thieboudienne-rice-recipe-senegal-national-dish.html |access-date=2024-08-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Niang |first=Fatima Fall |date=2023-01-24 |title=Who invented jollof rice? Senegal beats Ghana and Nigeria to the title |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/invented-jollof-rice-senegal-beats-140252708.html |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Ceebu Jën, a culinary art of Senegal |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/ceebu-jen-a-culinary-art-of-senegal-01748 |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=UNESCO |language=en}}

Food and agriculture historian James C. McCann argued that it was unlikely that the dish could have naturally spread from Senegal to its current range since a similar cultural diffusion is not seen in "linguistic, historical or political patterns". Instead, he proposed that the dish spread with the Mali empire, especially the Djula tradespeople who dispersed widely to the regional commercial and urban centers, taking with them economic arts of "blacksmithing, small-scale marketing, and rice agronomy" as well as the religion of Islam.

Marc Dufumier, an emeritus professor of agronomy, proposes a more recent origin for the dish, which may only have appeared as a consequence of the colonial promotion of intensive peanut cropping in central Senegal for the French oil industry, and where commensurate reduction in the planted area of traditional millet and sorghum staples was compensated for by imports of broken rice from Southeast Asia. This gave local cooks no choice but to use the then-unfamiliar product.{{cite web|title= Recette : le thiéboudiène de Marc Dufumier |first= Marc |last= Dufumier | url= https://www.lemonde.fr/m-gastronomie/article/2018/03/30/recette-le-thieboudiene-de-marc-dufumier_5278664_4497540.html |date= March 30, 2018| publisher= Le Monde |access-date= 2018-10-27}}

The use of New World tomatoes, tomato paste, capsicum peppers (bell, chili, paprika), Indian curry powder, Mediterranean thyme, and Asian rice varieties, may limit the origin of the current dish to no earlier than the 19th century, there being no evidence of the ingredients being locally cultivated or imported before this period.{{Cite journal |last=Alpern |first=Stanley B. |date=1992 |title=The European Introduction of Crops into West Africa in Precolonial Times |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3171994 |journal=History in Africa |volume=19 |pages=13–43 |doi=10.2307/3171994 |jstor=3171994 |s2cid=163106670 |issn=0361-5413|url-access=subscription }} In Senegal, oral histories credit Penda Mbaye, a cook at the residence of one of the colonial rulers in Saint-Louis, Senegal, as having created the dish when she ran out of barley and substituted rice.{{Cite web |last=Kokayi |first=Saqera |date=2021-03-18 |title=The History of Jollof Rice |url=https://bestofvegan.com/food-history-the-history-of-jollof-rice/ |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=Best of Vegan |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Afana |first=Clementine |date=31 March 2020 |title=Senegalese Thieboudienne Is a Dish That Feeds, Satisfies, and Unites |url=https://matadornetwork.com/read/senegalese-thieboudienne-dish-feeds-satisfies-unites/ |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=Matador Network |language=en-US}}

Jollof rice is one of the most common dishes in West Africa. There are several regional variations in name and ingredients;{{cite book|last1=Ayto|first1=John|title=The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food and Drink|edition=2nd|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199640249|page=[https://archive.org/details/dinersdictionary0000ayto/page/188 188]|url=https://archive.org/details/dinersdictionary0000ayto|url-access=registration|chapter=Jollof rice}} for example, in Mali it is called zaamè in Bamanankan. The dish's most common name of Jollof derives from the name of the Wolof people,{{cite book|last=Osseo-Asare|first=Fran|title=Food Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1s-a7EMM6BgC&pg=FA162|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32488-8|pages=33, 162}} though in Senegal, Mauritania and The Gambia the dish is referred to in Wolof as ceebu jën or benachin. In French-speaking areas, it is called riz au gras. Despite the variations, the dish is "mutually intelligible" across the regions and has become the best known African dish outside the continent.{{cite book |last1=McCann |first1=James C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CAhgpbXzq0oC&pg=PA133 |title=A west African culinary grammar". Stirring the Pot: A History of African Cuisine |date=2009 |publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=978-0896802728 |pages=29,133–135}}{{cite book| last=Davidson| first=Alan|author-link=Alan Davidson (food writer)| title=The Oxford Companion to Food| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RL6LAwAAQBAJ&pg=FA434| date=11 August 2014|publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-967733-7| page=434|chapter=Jollof rice}}{{cite book|last1=Brasseaux|first1=Ryan A.|last2=Brasseaux|first2=Carl A.|editor=Edge, John T.|title=The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 7: Foodways|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s-qnAgAAQBAJ|date=1 February 2014|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-1-4696-1652-0|page=188|chapter=Jambalaya}}{{cite book|last=Anderson|first=E. N.|title=Everyone Eats: Understanding Food and Culture, Second Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hBFoAgAAQBAJ&pg=FA106|date=7 February 2014|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-8916-2|page=106}}{{Cite web|url=https://buzzghana.com/ghana-jollof-recipe-steps/|title=Ghana Jollof Recipe: Steps To Preparing Jollof Rice The Ghanaian Way|date=2017-09-05|website=BuzzGhana|access-date=2020-01-16}} It is found throughout the world wherever communities of West African immigrants have developed.

File:Ingredients for jollof rice.jpg

Jollof rice traditionally consists of rice, cooking oil, tomato puree, onion, salt, chilies, and often some combination of other ingredients such as tomato paste, bell pepper, garlic, ginger, thyme, curry powder, bay leaves, grains of selim, and bouillon cubes or stock; recipes vary from country to country and cook to cook. Chicken, turkey, beef, lamb or fish are often cooked with or served with the dish.{{Cite web|title=Classic Nigerian Jollof Rice Recipe on Food52|url=https://food52.com/recipes/61557-classic-nigerian-jollof-rice| access-date=2021-02-27| website=Food52}}{{Cite web|url=https://buzzghana.com/ghana-jollof-recipe-steps/|title=Ghana Jollof Recipe: Steps To Preparing Jollof Rice The Ghanaian Way|date=2017-09-05|website=BuzzGhana|access-date=2020-01-16}}{{cite web | last=Sloley | first=Patti | title=Jollof Wars: Who does West Africa's iconic rice dish best? | website=BBC Travel | date=7 June 2021 | url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210607-jollof-wars-who-does-west-africas-iconic-rice-dish-best | access-date=16 July 2021}} In some countries, other vegetables such as cabbage, green peas, or carrots are included.

Some recipes call for long grain rice, some for short grain, some for broken rice, others for parboiled rice.{{Cite web |last=Sokoh |first=Ozoz |author-link=Ozoz Sokoh |date=10 May 2021 |title=The Wide World of Jollof Rice |url=https://www.foodandwine.com/grains/rice/the-wide-world-of-jollof-rice |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=Food & Wine |language=en}} Typically the tomato puree, tomato paste, onions, salt and chillies are sauteed in oil and simmered into a sauce in which the rice is then cooked.

File:Jollof rice and plantain.jpg

West African countries typically have at least one variant form of the dish, with Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cameroon particularly competitive as to which country makes the best jollof. In the mid-2010s this expanded into the "Jollof Wars".{{Cite news |date=2017-08-25 |title=West Africa steams over jollof rice war |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41053424 |access-date=2023-09-18}}

The gastronationalism rivalry is especially prominent between Nigeria and Ghana, and has led to various events, including cooking competitions and social media campaigns, fostering cultural pride.{{Cite web|date=2018-07-04|title=Know the Differences Between Nigerian and Ghanaian Jollof Rice|url=https://www.demandafrica.com/food/know-the-differences-between-nigerian-and-ghanaian-jollof-rice/|access-date=2021-07-11|website=Demand Africa}}{{Cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/africa/ghana/articles/a-brief-history-of-jollof-rice-a-west-african-favourite/|title=A Brief History of Jollof Rice, a West African Favourite|last=Adam|first=Hakeem|website=Culture Trip|date=20 January 2017 |access-date=2020-01-16}} In 2016, Sister Deborah released the song "Ghana Jollof", which denigrated the Nigerian version and Nigerians for being proud of their version.{{Cite news |last=Egbejule |first=Eromo |date=2016-08-22 |title=World Jollof Day: Jamie Oliver's #ricegate and other scandals |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/22/world-jollof-day-jamies-oliver-rice-scandals |access-date=2023-09-18 |issn=0261-3077}} Soon after, a physical fight over insufficient jollof supplies at a Ghanaian political rally sparked delighted mocking of Ghanaians by Nigerians.

Of particular sensitivity in jollof-making communities is the inclusion of non-traditional ingredients, which are defined country to country and are seen as making the jollof inauthentic. In 2014, a recipe released by Jamie Oliver that included cherry tomatoes, coriander, lemon, and parsley, none of which are used in any traditional recipe, caused outraged reactions, including the hashtag #jollofgate trending on social media, to the point Oliver's team had to issue a statement.

The Cameroonian version, sometimes called fried rice, often includes red peppers, carrots, green beans and smoked paprika.{{Cite web |last=AfricaNews |date=2023-02-06 |title=UNESCO settles jollof war between Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria |url=https://www.africanews.com/2023/02/06/unesco-settles-jollof-war-between-ghana-senegal-and-nigeria/ |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=Africanews |language=en}}

Smoked snails are a traditional ingredient in the cuisine of the Republic of The Gambia.

File:Jollof Rice Ghana.jpg

Ghanaian jollof rice is made of vegetable oil, onion, ginger, pressed garlic cloves, chillies, tomato paste, beef or goat meat or chicken (sometimes alternated with mixed vegetables), local or refined rice, typically jasmine rice and black pepper. Ghanaian jollof typically does not include any green leafy vegetables.

The method of cooking Ghanaian jollof begins with first preparing the beef or chicken by seasoning and steaming it with a pureé of ginger, onions and garlic and frying it until it is well-cooked.{{cite web|title=Ghana: Jollof Rice|url=http://www.africanfoodmap.com/recipes/recipe-3/|website= The African Food Map|access-date=15 November 2016}} The rest of the ingredients are then fried all together, starting from onions, pepper, tomato paste, tomatoes and spices in that order. After all the ingredients have been fried, rice is then added and cooked until the meal is prepared. Ghanaian jollof is typically served with plantains and side dishes of beef, chicken, well-seasoned fried fish, or mixed vegetables.{{Cite web|url=https://yen.com.gh/105097-traditional-ghanaian-jollof-rice-recipe-2020.html|title=Traditional Ghanaian Jollof Rice Recipe| last=Sekibo| first=Kojo| date=2020-01-14| website=Yen.com.gh|access-date=2020-01-16}}{{Cite web|date=2017-09-05| title=Ghana Jollof Recipe: Steps To Preparing Jollof Rice The Ghanaian Way|url=https://buzzghana.com/ghana-jollof-recipe-steps/|access-date=2021-05-18|website=BuzzGhana}}

Jollof in Ghana is also served alongside shito, a popular type of pepper which originates from Ghana, and salad during parties and other ceremonies.{{Cite web|url=https://yen.com.gh/105097-traditional-ghanaian-jollof-rice-recipe-2020.html|title=Traditional Ghanaian Jollof Rice Recipe|last=Sekibo|first=Kojo|date=2020-01-14|website=Yen.com.gh|access-date=2020-01-16}}

Liberian jollof seldom includes seafood.

{{Culture of Nigeria}}

Although considerable variation exists, the basic profile for Nigerian jollof rice includes long-grain rice (including golden sella basmati rice), tomatoes puree and/or tomato paste, onions, pepper (scotch bonnets and/or habanero peppers; poblanosHorton E. Fresh summer tomatoes take classic Southern red rice to the next level. The Washington Post. 2018 Aug 16. and/or bell peppers), vegetable oil, meat broth/stock and a various mixture of additional ingredients, including thyme, bay leaves, curry powder, white pepper, (small amounts of) nutmeg and stock cubes. Converted rice, which may respectively exist in the form of standard long-grain parboiled rice (often labelled as easy-cook rice in the U.K.Reddy, K.R.N., Abbas, H.K., Abel, C.A., Shier, W.T., Oliveira, C.A.F.D. and Raghavender, C.R., 2009. Mycotoxin contamination of commercially important agricultural commodities. Toxin reviews, 28(2-3), pp.154-168.) or Golden Sella basmati rice (similarly-parboiledKaur, A., Virdi, A.S., Singh, N., Singh, A. and Kaler, R.S.S., 2021. Effect of degree of milling and defatting on proximate composition, functional and texture characteristics of gluten-free muffin of bran of long-grain indica rice cultivars. Food Chemistry, 345, p.128861. and which has come to be especially commonly-used in the U.K., gradually increasing in popularity since 2006) is most-appropriate for Nigerian one-pot rice-cooking, as it resists becoming mushy.

File:Nigerian Jollof 02.jpg

The important quality of rice used to cook Nigerian one-pot rice recipes, including jollof rice, is that it is parboiled. The decision whether to use any of the numerous brands of conventional long-grain parboiled/easy-cook rice (e.g., Tolly Boy, Mama Gold, Dangote Rice, Veetee, Village Pride, Tropical Sun, Mama Pride, Mama Africa, Cap Rice, Uncle Ben’s, Royal Stallion, Carolina Gold) or Golden Sella basmati-parboiled rice (further sub-branded, e.g., Asli, Tilda){{cite web | url=https://www.schooldrillers.com/rice-brands-and-prices-in-nigeria/ | title=List of Most Popular Rice Brands and Prices in Nigeria. | School Drillers | date=9 December 2021 }}{{cite web | url=https://trumpetmediagroup.com/the-trumpet/food-drink/foodies-inspire-xmas-sparkle-with-tolly-boy-rice/ | title=Foodies inspire Xmas sparkle with Tolly Boy Rice | date=15 December 2016 }}https://www.jumia.com.ng/tropical-sun-golden-sella-pure-basmati-rice-5kg-376088348.html is merely a matter of availability, convenience and/or personal preference and the sub-status of one or the other grain-group being conventional long-grain or basmati long-grain completely irrelevant. What matters is that it is parboiled (i.e., partially boiled at the husk when processing). Sella basmati rice, however, is considered more aesthetically pleasing to some.Aneke, F.O., 2019. SENSORY EVALUATION OF JOLLOF RICE USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF RICE.

Most of the ingredients are cooked in one pot, of which a rich meat stock or broth and a fried tomato and pepper puree characteristically forms the base. Rice is then added and left to cook in the liquid.

The dish is then served with the protein of choice (which in theory may be any meat but often beef, turkey, chicken or croaker-fish; much less commonly lamb, pork, etc.) and very often with fried plantains, moi-moi (bean pudding), steamed vegetables, coleslaw, salad, etc.

Several variations of prototypal Nigerian jollof rice exist, including coconut-jollof rice.Abbas, A.M., Agada, I.G. and Kolade, O., 2018. Impacts of rice importation on Nigeria’s economy. Journal of Scientific Agriculture, 2(1), pp.71-75.Ubani, U.G.I., Williams, C.S. and Chung, R.A., 1980. Essential amino acid content of some selected Nigerian meals. Journal of Food Science, 45(5), pp.1363-1366. Coconut-jollof rice is particularly often eaten by riverine and some Igbo Nigerians.

File:Thiéboudiène Boukhonk with tamarind.jpg

UNESCO recognized Senegal's version of jollof, thieboudienne, as an intangible cultural heritage dish.{{Cite web |last=Oguntola |first=Tunde |title=Jollof Wars: UNESCO Settles Debate Between Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal |url=https://leadership.ng/jollof-wars-unesco-settles-debate-between-nigeria-ghana-senegal/#:~:text=Jollof%20rice%20(called%20Ceebu%20j%C3%ABn,heritage%20of%20humanity%20by%20UNESCO. |website=Leadership|date=29 January 2023 }} Thieboudienne typically uses broken rice.{{Cite web |last=Adegoke |first=Yinka |date=9 July 2023 |title=How to end the jollof wars |url=https://www.semafor.com/article/07/09/2023/nigeria-ghana-senegal-and-jollof-war |website=Semafor}} Smoked snails are a traditional ingredient.

The dish is known in Sierra Leone, where it may not call for red palm oil but instead tomato paste.

In French-speaking West Africa, including Beninese, Burkinabé, Guinean, Ivorian, Nigerien, and Togolese cuisines, there is a variant called riz gras or riz au gras, which translates to "fat rice", a reference to the short-grain rice usually used in the dish. Additionally, Guinea-Bissauan cuisine, in a Portuguese-speaking country, has this. Riz gras typically includes additional vegetables such as eggplant, carrots, and/or cabbage. {{cite book | last=Albala | first=K. | title=Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia [4 volumes]: [Four Volumes] | publisher=ABC-CLIO | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-313-37627-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zG1H75z0EYYC&pg=PA28 | page=28}}{{cite book | last1=Auzias | first1=D. | last2=Labourdette | first2=J.P. | title=Burkina-Faso 2014-2015 Petit Futé (avec cartes, photos + avis des lecteurs) | publisher=Petit Futé | series=Country Guides | year=2013 | isbn=978-2-7469-6947-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dW7RAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA95 | language=fr | page=95}}{{cite book | last=Trillo | first=R. | title=The Rough Guide to West Africa | publisher=Rough Guides | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-4053-8070-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-GCQyrotgMC&pg=PT817 | page=pt817}}

Jollof is culturally important in much of West Africa to the point there is a common saying, "A party without jollof is just a meeting". In Nigeria the term, "See jollof" means "see how much fun is being had" according to Nigerian food historian Ozoz Sokoh.

Since the 2010s, there has been increasing interest in West African foods in the western world. Jollof food festivals have been held in Washington, DC, and Toronto. "World Jollof Day" has been celebrated since 2015 on 22 August, gaining traction on social media and has helped increased the global recognition of Jollof rice. On 3 November 2022, the dish was honoured with a Google Doodle.{{Cite web|title=Google Doodle Celebrates West Africa's Jollof Rice|url=https://www.cnet.com/culture/internet/google-doodle-celebrates-west-africas-jollof-rice/|date=3 November 2022|access-date=4 November 2022|last=Musil|first=Steven|website=CNET}}

File:Native Jollof Rice (cropped).jpg

Some areas also have versions of two related dishes:

• Party jollof or party rice is traditionally cooked outdoors over a wood fire, which gives it a smoky flavor and a crusty "bottom pot" similar to tahdig or socarrat, it is prepared with fresh tomato and pepper mix, tomato paste, onions, vegetable oil, spices like thyme, rosemary, curry, meat stock, etc.{{Cite web |last=Sokoh |first=Ozoh |author-link=Ozoz Sokoh |date=22 September 2022 |title=Nigerian Jollof Rice Recipe |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/nigerian-jollof-rice-recipe-6741471 |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=Serious Eats |language=en}}
• Native rice, also called concoction rice, uses red palm oil and smoked, dried fish and is seasoned with locust beans (also known as iru or dawa-dawa), uziza seeds and/or scent leaf, (respectively known as nchuanwu, arimu and ahuji in Igbo; ntong in Efik-Ibibio; efirin in Yoruba, añyeba in Igala, aramogbo in Edo; etc.), occasionally sprinkled with cut olili (local mint). Concoction rice is a term that may refer to either this or an ‘economically-friendly’ version of either this or conventional jollof rice but in the latter, too, red palm oil (or groundnut oil) is more frequently used to cook it than vegetable oils.

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• Arroz rojo
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• {{Citation |title=Sister Deborah - Ghana Jollof (Music Video) | date=12 July 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGEr7TQA2eQ |access-date=2023-09-18 |language=en}}

{{African cuisine}}

{{Rice dishes}}

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