The ‘rivalry’ over jollof rice, a dish peculiar to a few West African countries, is one that has been on for a while, featuring these two countries, Nigeria and Ghana at the center of the ‘controversy’.

The ‘feud’ is over who has the best Jollof rice and whose recipe tastes better.

While the #JollofWar and the battle for supremacy has not produced any winner and may likely not, we enjoy how these countries sieze the medium to uphold their national identities and peculiarities through their most popular yet similar cuisine; the Jollof Rice.

This rich, mouth-watering dish consists of rice cooked in a flavourful sauce of tomatoes, onions and aromatic spices. The base ingredients are often layered with ginger, garlic, thyme, grains of selim (a West African spice), tomato puree, curry powder and Scotch bonnet chillies, though the exact components and preparation differ from country to country; even from house to house.

It is generally eaten as a main dish in most West African countries and is the most popular staple at parties and gatherings.

Jollof’s origins can be traced to Senegal’s ancient Wolof empire and medieval state in the 1300s, where it first surfaced as a dish called thiéboudienne.

As the Wolof empire grew and dispersed along the West African coast and region, so did the recipe, which was named after one of the biggest Wolof states, Jolof.

The rising popularity of rice (introduced into the region from Asia but now grown locally) led to the spread and adaptation of the recipe. As new cultural enclaves emerged across the West African region, so did different jollof interpretations, with recipes that continued to evolve into what it is now.

Today, every West African country has some variation of the dish. The similarity between the Nigerian and Ghanaian recipes is a symptom of the fluidity of West African borders and overlapping cultures that can be traced back to the same origins.

By and large, the Jollof debate has been positive and has increased awareness of, and interest in West African food across the world. We must keep at it, mustn’t we?