Historians believe that jollof rice originated in Senegal and Gambia during the centuries of colonial rule. The French brought broken rice from Indochina to replace the region's native crops and promoted the imported broken grain over the indigenous whole grain.
Often served at weddings, graduations, and birthdays, jollof is named after Wolof, the mighty Senegalese empire, founded between 1150 and 1350. Today, there are Senegalese, Gambian, Nigerian, Ghanaian, Caribbean and other versions of jollof. But what makes folks willing to fight over it?
The “jollof war" is friendly rivalry. Folks are passionate about reppin' their version. Like many Black foods, jollof has traveled far and wide, taking on different flavors and ingredients along the way.
Nigeria's jollof is cooked with assorted meats or dry seafood and parboiled rice. Ghana's jollof uses jasmine rice and usually goat meat.
Senegal's long-grain version is packed with veggies andhas its own name: Thiéboudienne. In South Carolina, once the U.S. rice capital where many Senegambian people were enslaved, red rice, made with tomatoes, meat, or seafood, is jollof’s one-pot cousin. Every version has one thing in common.
It's cooked in quantities large enough to share–a reminder of our communal values. Like jollof, we have our differences, but the same roots. We must never forget that.