Jollof rice is a West African epicurean icon. Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Gambia and Gabo each have their own version of the fragrant, spicy, tomato-infused, one-pot mélange. And everyone fights over whose recipe is best.

Fortunately, this food fight is (almost always) friendly and social media is peppered with good-humoured, witty rice rivalry.

Wolof cooks from Senegambia are widely recognised as jollof’s culinary creators — how could they not be when their name is literally written into the recipe? Between the 12th and 15th centuries, the Wolof empire became rich growing and trading indigenous African rice (Oryza glaberrima) across West Africa. Their signature dish (thieboudienne/ tchep djeune/ benachin — fish with rice) spread with travelling merchants and found favour far and wide. Those adopting the recipe initially described it in terms of the people who brought it but, as time and territory grew, differences in pronunciation and ingredients emerged. What was once the rice of the Wolof evolved into jollof rice.

What unites all jollof recipes is rice cooked in a rich sauce of tomato, onion, scotch bonnet chilli, garlic and ginger. Often umami elements such as smoked crayfish powder and iru/ dawa-dawa (fermented locust beans) are added. Simmering rice absorbs these bold flavours and takes on a luscious orange-red hue.

What divides jollof recipes is almost everything else. “Jollof war” cooking competitions have been epic events in West Africa since time immemorial but as the diaspora has spread and prospered, these tournaments have gone global and now take place everywhere from Brooklyn to Beijing. And Johannesburg, too. Ghana and Nigeria have the most enthusiastic warriors. The Senegalese sensibly stay out of rice-related regional disputes. Maybe they are satisfied with Unesco's 2021 inclusion of their original version in the Intangible Heritage of Humanity list. Possibly they are busy making thieboudienne which is much more complicated and time consuming than other jollof-type recipes.

Other people’s arguments can be confusing but, essentially, the issues are that while Ghanaian cooks prefer fragrant jasmine rice (which their rivals say is soggy and starchy) Nigerians favour sturdier, parboiled grains, which cook quickly and are less prone to mushiness — though opponents argue that they’re tasteless. Nigerians add sweet red peppers and bay leaves to the sauce and push strong, smoky flavours forward while Ghanaians enjoy the floral quality of red palm fruit oil and punchy ginger notes. They are also proud of their stock-making skills. Ghanaian bouillon is made using whatever protein will be served with/in the jollof and is seasoned with warming spices such as cloves, grains of selim, calabash nutmeg and aniseed. They often accuse Nigerians of cutting corners by using Maggi cubes.

The scorn for instant stock recently made its way into a music video by Accra influencer Sister Deborah, who sang six years ago: Ghana jollof, Ghana jollof, Ghana jollof — yummy! Nigerian jollof is just funny. And later: Ghana jollof on fleek — yours isn't. The video showed Nigerian men falling for Sister’s charms as she intoned: I have d’ secret recipe, no Maggi cube, when your Naija boy chases me don’t blame juju.

Perhaps the secret was in the sauce for Ghanaian chef Florence Ansah from Divine Touch Catering in Pretoria when she won the 2021 Johannesburg Jollof War. There was no event in 2022 but those wishing to see if Ansah will successfully defend her title can email the organisers and book for this year’s event — set to take place in Sandton on Africa Day, May 25 — on veinewines@yahoo.com. In the meantime, why not pick up a pot and make New York Times food writer Yewande Komolafe’s simple and delicious Nigerian recipe.

YEWANDE KOMOLAFE’S JOLLOF RICE RECIPE

Serves: 4-6 people

Ingredients for the obe ata (tomato base):

1 x 400g can whole peeled tomatoes with their juices

1 medium red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped

½ medium onion, peeled and chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled, chopped

1 x 2.5cm piece fresh ginger, chopped

1 scotch bonnet chilli

30ml (2 tbsp) canola oil/ other neutral oil or red palm fruit oil — red palm fruit oil has a distinctive taste, mouthfeel, and colour. It is richly red, mildly floral, smoky flavour that blossoms slowly as it coats your tongue. There have been human rights and environmental concerns about mass produced Asian palm kernel oil.

For the jollof rice:

125ml (½ cup) canola/ other neutral oil

2 medium red onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

15ml (1 tbsp) tomato paste

5ml (1 tsp) ground turmeric

¼ tsp smoked paprika, optional 

750ml (3 cups) parboiled long-grain rice, basmati or jasmine rice

5 fresh thyme sprigs

1 fresh bay leaf

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

500ml (2 cups) beef, chicken or vegetable stock

Method:

1. For the obe ata, working in batches if needed, combine all the ingredients in a blender and purée until smooth. The liquid from the can of tomatoes should suffice, but you can add up to  60ml (¼ cup) of water if necessary to get the purée going.

2. Heat the purée over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the sauce is reduced by about a third of its original volume. About 20 minutes. It should reduce to about 2 cups.

3. Prepare the rice, preheat the oven to 180°C. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven pot (an ovenproof pot with a tight fitting lid) over medium heat on stove top until shimmering, about a minute.

4. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove half the onions to a plate and set aside. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste, turmeric and smoked paprika, if using, and toast, stirring occasionally, until turmeric fragrant, tomato paste has deepened to a dark red colour, about 2 minutes.

5. Stir in the obe ata sauce and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the rice, thyme and bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the stock and cover with a lid. Transfer the pot to the oven and cook until rice is just tender, 35 minutes.

6.  Remove the pot from the oven and let sit, covered (no peeking) for 15 minutes. Uncover, fluff the rice with a fork and stir in the reserved sautéed onions. Adjust seasoning, if necessary, and discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Serve warm.

7. Remember that the slightly burnt crust at the bottom of the pot is the best bit ...

Wine pairing:

To keep the flavours in Africa, a wine suggestion is the Beyerskloof Reserve 2018, a medium-bodied pinotage. 

WHERE TO BUY JOLLOF

Who makes the best jollof? No-one can say for sure. The only way to find out is to try as many varieties as you can.

Senegalese jollof, Gauteng

• Thieboudienne, Amina’s Joburg Senegalese Catering: 078-046-6108

Nigerian jollof, Gauteng

• Jollof Café (Gauteng branches Sandton, Bryanston, Midrand)
• Jummy's Kitchen (Melrose Crossing, Sandton): 072-803-3068

Ghana jollof, Gauteng

• Winner of the 2021 SA Jollof War Florence Ansah, Divine Touch Catering, Sunnyside, Pretoria: 072-392-0447
• Peq's Food, Midrand: 082-779-7996

Ghana jollof, Cape Town

• Ghana Jollof, catering and every weekend at Neighbourgoodsmarket Woodstock, Cape Town: 060-3104-298, @ghanajollof_sa

Nigerian jollof, Cape Town

• Noble on Long Street restaurant, Cape Town: 021-426-9004. 

Deconstructed jollof

• Chef Vusi Ndlovu's Edge Africa at the Belmond Mount Nelson does a starter described as trout with jollof essence.