Google celebrates Jollof Rice on its Nigerian Google Doodle

Tech giant Google is celebrating West African dish “Jollof Rice” on its Google Doodle today.

Google contracted Nigeria-based guest artist Haneefah Adam to create the artwork and Senegalese jazz musician, Hervé Samb, to create the soundtrack.

Jollof Rice is a basically a rice dish simmered in reduced tomatoes, onions, peppers and regional spices. Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana citizens have been saying that their blend of Jollof Rice is the best.

According to its blog post,

On this day each year, rice farmers plant and reap a bountiful harvest, and cooks across West Africa prepare to make fresh jollof. Also known as benachin and thieboudienne, jollof rice is a one-pot meal that originated from the Wolof tribe in the 14th century. The Wolof Empire, ruling parts of modern-day Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania, popularized jollof throughout West Africa.  

Although jollof rice was traditionally cooked with fish for dinner, Africans today also enjoy this savory dish for breakfast and lunch, and often substitute fish with chicken, beef or goat.

Each country has added its own spin to the recipe and West Africans engage in humorous banter over who makes the best jollof. These friendly rivalries, known as the “Jollof Wars,” have become an African cultural phenomenon. 

Don’t ask me, I don’t want to get into that debate. I have tasted the Nigerian and Ghanaian versions but not the Senegalese version. As a Nigerian, you know what my answer is….