Ghana: Jamie’s Jollof rice recipe

By Jonny Garrett

June 21, 2014 | In Around the world, Foodie World Cup

It’s amazing how food can tell a story – how traces of it can be found throughout a continent, showing the diaspora of people and the spread of cultures across thousands of miles.
Jollof rice is more of a concept than a recipe, because it’s found in various guises all over West Africa. Its other name is Benachin, which means “one pot” in the language of the Wolof people who invented it – evidently throwing lots of lovely food in a pan and letting the heat do its thing has always been a popular cheat.
The Wolof ruled an empire from what is now known as Senegal between 1360 to 1549. For a while they were a powerful and wealthy kingdom, even trading with Europe before it fell apart through infighting among the different states. By the time it disintegrated though, its travels, trades and conquests had spread its people and cultures right throughout the area. So it’s no surprise that Jollof rice springs up in the list of favourite dishes for Ghana, about 2,000km from their homeland in Senegal. In fact, it springs up all even further east, in countries such as Nigeria and Cameroon. Because of this distance, and all the differences in culture and climate, the ingredients vary wildly, but the principle is that you cook your rice in a tomato sauce, so it soaks up all the flavours.

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