jollof rice

Jollof, or jollof rice, is a rice dish from West Africa. The dish is typically made with long-grain rice, tomatoes, chilies, onions, spices, and sometimes other vegetables and/or meat in a single pot, although its ingredients and preparation methods vary across different regions. The dish's origins trace to the Senegambian region. Regional variations are a source of competition between the countries of West Africa, and in particular Nigeria and Ghana, over whose version is the best; in the 2010s this developed into a friendly rivalry known as the "Jollof Wars". In French-speaking West Africa, a variation of the dish is known as riz au gras. History and origin The origins of the dish are not clear. West African food historian Fran Osseo-Asare notes a similar dish in the Senegambian region that was ruled by the Wolof or Jolof Empire in the 14th century, spanning parts of today's Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania, where rice was grown, and which is known as thieboudienne or thiebou djeun, which contains rice, fish, shellfish and vegetables. If made with meat, it is called cheeb u yapp.