So it was World Jollof Rice Day about a month back, and the internet went agog with whose Jollof was the best. By whose, I mean countries. Food buffs defended their countries with points as to why their jollof was the best in the world, creative juices flowed as quite a handful of memes hit the internet, and some just sat back while passively having fun reading tweets debating the delicious topic.
What was classic in all of these socio-topical discussion, however, was Jamie Oliver. The British celebrity TV chef gave us a little history on the all-famous jollof rice, tracing its existence to Wolof – a place that would later be called Senegal. But that wasn’t the issue! The ‘issue’ was the “Jamie’s twist” on jollof rice. According to Jamie’s version, jollof rice includes such whole-vegetable ingredients as vine-ripe cherry tomatoes, parsley, coriander and a slice of lemon! Now, does this warrant an over 4,500 mostly-lashing twitter comments from left, right and center? And even a hashtag #jollofgate for the scandalous recipe?! You be the judge.
In the coming days, we’ll feature the different jollof rice recipes of different countries, plus the famous Jamie Oliver’s recipe. You could try them all and decide for yourself what country has the ‘best’ jollof rice.
First of All, “Jamie’s Twist” on Jollof Rice… [See next post]