Just like steamy, smoky and delicious Nigerian Jollof rice, let me present this piece to you “Because it’s hot.”
One of the things that Nigerians hold at home and in places where there is no joke is that they hold strongly that they are not religious; is our gastronomic activity, gastronomic dexterity and gastronomic improvisation. But before you get lost in that sentence; what I just stated in a brief flash of grandiloquence, is that Nigerians do not joke with food and stomach; incompetent! We love to tell anyone who needs to know that we love good food. Whether you like it or not; call Nigerians foodies. It doesn’t bother us, because we know that food and well-prepared food do something that English words can’t explain.
It is suitable to find Nigerians looking for food and Nigerian restaurants wherever you find on the surface of the earth. And if there is none, they try local delicacies and if they are okay with it and can go back, they try delicacies that have enough chili peppers to make non-West Africans speak strange languages.
Now, if they can’t find local food that they can consume, they always find ways to prepare Nigerian food with local ingredients indoors. Actually, West Africans are looking for West African cuisine or something close to West African cuisine and if they can’t find something close, they make food ingredients and their gastronomic dexterity is shown in the kitchen.
In Rwanda, it is no different. When Nigerians from Nigeria, Nigerians in Diaspora, Nigerians of various nationalities fly to Rwanda either for business opportunities (business scouting, investment) or premium leisure; one song that all the choruses have in common is “where can we eat Nigerian food?” If Nigerians and West Africans have to travel from one part of Rwanda to another part of Rwanda just to spoil Nigerian cuisine, we will make that journey; for we know that, no matter how tedious the journey maybe, the yearn for the stomach to use Nigerian dishes must be quenched.
This piece is not about who has the best jollof rice in West Africa. In a recent post, the former CEO of All-On; Dr. Wieber Boer, who grew up in Nigeria and is currently the President of Calvin University in the US stated in a post on Monday, January 23, 2023 that; “There is no debate about the origin of Jollof rice. That is definitely Senegal because UNESCO has confirmed it correctly.
“The debate about Jollof is the tastiest. And the war is usually between Ghana and Nigeria; with other countries in West Africa also making claims for Jollof rice to be the tastiest. But I argue that this is also a wrong debate. Jollof rice is clearly the best rice dish in the world , regardless of the West African country. The debate should now be raised on the West African Jollof with all other rice dishes around the world (like biryani, pelau, jumbalaya, paella, fried nasi goreng, etc.).
Now, there is no particular order; while you’re in Kigali, check out Afrinaija Pots restaurant, Danfo by The Grind; Jollof Kigali Restaurant, Akachi Jollof, One meal. Now, I am sure that I have sharpened, provoked and whetted my appetite for Nigerian delicacies; let me continue to destroy amala soup and gbegiri while you continue to destroy Nigerian jollof rice fueled by mutton and bouncy chicken.
Dolapo Aina writes from Kigali, Rwanda.