A one-pot dish of rice cooked in a tomato and pepper-based sauce with onion and stock, seasoned with a blend of West African spices and often served with chicken, beef or fish. Food historians trace its roots to Wolof cooking in the Senegambia region, from which its name likely derives, with rice-and-sauce cookery spreading east along the coast into what are now Ghana, Nigeria and beyond. Which country cooks the definitive version is a long-running, good-natured argument across West Africa, most visibly between Nigeria and Ghana.
Facts
Partially Attested
Origin Period, From (Year)Sourced to the subject's own accountThe Jolof (Wolof) Empire, whose cooking is credited as jollof rice's root tradition, is dated from around the 12th century CE; that marks the root tradition's era, not a firm date for the modern tomato-based one-pot dish, which most sources place considerably later. Origin Period, To (Year)Sourced to the subject's own accountMarks the turn of the 19th century: the modern tomato-based one-pot dish depends on New World tomatoes, tomato paste, capsicum peppers, Indian curry powder and Asian rice varieties with no evidence of local cultivation or import before this period, so the current dish cannot be older than this even though the root Wolof cooking tradition is centuries older. Origin RegionSourced to the subject's own accountSenegambia (Wolof / Jolof Empire, West Africa) 1 Connections
Associated With
Thieboudienne, Dishes Jollof rice is widely regarded as a derivative of thieboudienne: usually made with meat rather than fish, with the rice mixed into the other ingredients rather than served under a fish steak.
Source Thieboudienne (Wikipedia)
Expresses Tradition
Source Larousse Gastronomique
In Cuisine
Source The Oxford Companion to FoodAlan Davidson
Uses Ingredient
Source The Oxford Companion to FoodAlan Davidson
Source The Oxford Companion to FoodAlan Davidson
Source The Oxford Companion to FoodAlan Davidson
Sources
1. Jollof Rice (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory and origin
The Jolof or Wolof Empire was a confederacy state that ruled parts of West Africa situated in modern-day Senegal, Mali, The Gambia and Mauritania from around the 12th century
History and origin, New World ingredient constraint
The use of New World tomatoes, tomato paste, capsicum peppers (bell, chili, paprika), Indian curry powder, Mediterranean thyme, and Asian rice varieties, may limit the origin of the current dish to no earlier than the 19th century, there being no evidence of the ingredients being locally cultivated or imported before this period.
View the Source The Oxford Companion to Food
Alan Davidson, Oxford University Press, 2014
Larousse Gastronomique
Hamlyn, 2009Expresses Tradition: Spice Trade Traditions, s.v. Jollof Rice
Thieboudienne (Wikipedia)
WikipediaAssociated With: Thieboudienne, History and originQuote, Associated With: Thieboudienne, History and origin
The popular West African dish known as jollof is thought to have originated from thieboudienne, but is usually made with meat rather than fish, and the rice is mixed into the other ingredients.
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