There seems to be an outstanding battle of the Jollof rice between Nigeria and Ghana. Jollof rice is rice that is cooked in tomato, tomato sauce, onion, pepper, and oil/broth. Each grandmother and mother I am sure has her own secret recipe. The dish originated from Senegal.

I had the privilege of visiting both countries this trip to West Africa and I had jollof rice in both countries. I had it in popular, highly rated restaurants in both countries: The Yellow Chilli Restaurant and Bar in Victoria Island, Lagos and Buka Restaurant in Osu, Accra.

I prefer the Ghanaian jollof rice. I find it tastier and has more depth in flavor, however, it could be that I had the jollof rice with a Ghanaian beef stew. It also came with stir fried cabbage and Ghanaian chilli called Shito (yummy!).

In Lagos, I ordered special jollof rice which has the meat cooked together with the rice. I find it a little bit dry and not flavorful enough (until we requested the homemade chilli which is similar to Indonesian sambal oelek – seasoned ground chilli).

I am a foreigner. It is my first time in West Africa. You may argue I do not know enough to pass judgement, but it also can be that I have less bias because it was my very first jollofs. Whichever school of thought you follow, I just want to say that it has been fun and I have eaten well on my trip. I cannot wait to come back and try more of West African cuisines.