Liberia has won the 2nd annual Jollof Festival held by Afropolitan Insights at the historic Union Market in Washington, DC.
Jollof otherwise known as Jollof Rice is an African cuisine popular in the West African Sub-region and cooked in different style depending on which country you visit.
Recently, the topic has been trending on social media as to which country prepare the best jollof in the region. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Guinea Senegal and Nigeria are countries known to serve jollof rice in restaurants and hotels but the talking point has been “Which of these countries has the best jollof?”
An event held in Washington DC brought together performers, vendors, artists and indeed the entire African Diaspora community worldwide as the contest for “Who cooked the best Jollaf in Africa begins”.
On the Judges panel was two culinary experts in the persons of US-based Chef Dadisi Olutosin of Plated Food Groupe and Executive Chef Francis Otoo of the Embassy of Ghana in DC. Others were Lauren Bernstein of the Culinary Diplomacy Project, CEO of Diversity is A Verb – Gina Humber, and professional soccer player Kofi Opare from the US Major League side DC United.
The Organizers of the events are planning to take the event on the road making stops at California later this July, New York, and the United Kingdom in September.
Liberia won the contest through an anonymous voting system after the judges decided that Liberian Jollaf was the best at the occasion.
After the event, Ishmael Osekre of Afripolitan Insights said: “We are very thankful to all our sponsors for this year’s festival, from our guest-judges, DJs, performers, vendors, to artists and indeed the entire African Diaspora community worldwide for the massive support given us.“
“We had over a thousand people from all walks of life with us here today, and that’s what this festival is all about, uniting people under the power of food while we explore and share our respective cultures and talents,”
Behind Liberia in second place was Sierra Leone, while Ghana came in at 3rd place. Defending champions from last year Nigeria did not participate in this year’s competition, so did Senegal, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, though they all turned up to support the event.
As the Jollof wars continue in street corners and across social media, let it be known that jollof rice is the most debated dish in West Africa and if you have not tasted it, well you are not late to the party, there is still hope, so let Liberia jollof inspire you.
