Is Nigerian Jollof Rice Really the Best Jollof? I Asked Kerry Washington and This Is What She Had to Say

The Nigerian community has long been battling every other country for the title of the best jollof rice makers. And while their main competitor has been Ghana, the “Giant of Africa” is always ready and willing to go toe-to-toe with any other nation that wants to stake their claim in the jollof wars — be it people from Sierra Leone, Senegal, Liberia or Cameroon.

In fact, the debate over who makes the best jollof rice is so prevalent that when I first moved to Los Angeles back in 2022, I attended an annual event called “Jollof Wars” where chefs from the aforementioned nations bring their best dishes for the people in attendance to try out.

There’s music, vendors selling all types of African goodies, and even a talent show, but the main event is the blind vote that takes place at the end of the night, in which people choose which jollof reigns supreme.

For those who may not know, jollof rice is a type of rice dish commonly made in West Africa. It’s made with tomatoes, chilis, onions and various spices and, as with any meal, each country puts its own spin on it.

You can pair it with plantains (another highly debatable food), some meat and salad of choice, but when it’s really done right, you can eat it by itself because it’s so well-seasoned. It’s spicy, it’s smokey and when all the ingredients are mixed the right way, it really is a culinary experience that stops you in your tracks.

But despite admitting that there are plenty of ways to make the dish, I’ve yet to meet a Nigerian who is remotely open to the idea that any other country comes close to theirs.

So, a few weeks back when I was covering the NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 22, I found out that Kerry Washington would not only be in attendance, but she would also be taking questions from the press. I immediately knew this would be the opportune time to get her take on the topic tearing apart the internet.

Private as she is about her personal life, I knew that Washington, who has been married to Nigerian-American former-football-player-turned-producer Nnamdi Asomugha for 11 years, was going to have gotten wind of this debate — and she proved me right when she immediately begged, “Don’t bring me into this!” when I asked who takes the jollof trophy between Nigeria and Ghana.

So with one hunch proven correct, I also suspected that, ever the loyal and #proudwifey (as she often likes to say whenever she posts about her husband’s latest project), she was going to take their side. Right again.

“But of course, anything Naija is gonna be better,” she admitted. “It’s Naija. That is the truth.”

And there you have it.

One thing I didn’t predict? That she had yet another country to bring into the debate. Washington told me that her Shadow Force costar Omar Sy, who is from Senegal, has been quarrelling with Asomugha about the topic.

“I have this film coming out on May 2 with Omar Sy,” Washington said of the film, which is out May 2 and also stars which also stars Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Mark Strong and Method Man. “The debates that Omar and my husband have been having about Senegalese jollof or Nigerian jollof …They do say that [jollof started in Senegal] — but ask Nnamdi, he doesn’t believe it!”

(For the uninitiated, the reason why this is so hilarious is because while Nigeria and Ghana are the main two jollof makers in the debate, Senegalese people often chime into the conversation and try to shut the whole thing down by pointing to the fact that the dish originated in their country.)

The Senegalese may claim that neither Nigeria nor Ghana, nor any other nation could ever truly win as none of them do it better than the nation of origin. Nigeria, for their part, will (sometimes) concur that the dish may have started in Senegal but it’s their special spices that have made it so popular and so much better than the rest.

As a Zimbabwean, my country doesn’t have a stake in this fight, but I have been in countless rooms simply trying to enjoy my meal and have watched as my Nigerian compatriots elaborate as to why theirs is the best. Until someone concedes — which I don’t ever see happening — the jollof wars will continue to rage on, on social media.

“It’s an ongoing debate,” Washington conceded, and that it is.

(And in case you were wondering, Nigeria did come out on top at the Jollof Wars event in 2022.)