At Jollof Festival Oakland, West African Chefs Face Off in a Battle Royale of Rice

In West African diasporic communities, jollof rice isn’t just a delicious dish. It’s the red-tinged subject of a thousand dinner table squabbles, Facebook group feuds and friendly trash-talk sessions. Who makes it best? Is it Gambia or Senegal, where jollof rice is believed to have originated? Or is it Nigeria or Ghana or one the many other countries across West Africa that have embraced and added their own unique twists to the beloved staple dish?

That eternal debate is the basis of Jollof Festival, a touring nationwide cultural celebration and nationality-based jollof rice competition that will stop in 12 different cities this year, including Oakland on July 13.

Kemi Tijaniqudus, who runs the Nigerian food truck Jollof Kitchen, won the Oakland edition both years she competed, 2021 and 2023. Her victories are a point of pride, not just for herself but for the Bay Area’s broader Nigerian community.

As she puts it, “People have different opinions, but hey, we always win. You can choose whatever you like, but I know I will take the crown.” In fact, Tijaniqudus says part of the reason she has retired from the competition and won’t be competing this year is because it’s unfair: “I already know Nigerian jollof is going to win.”

If those sound like fighting words, that’s all part of the fun — and the friendly but heated rivalry — of Jollof Festival, where delicious food meets a healthy dose of cultural and nationalistic pride.

Co-produced by Jollof Festival founder Ishmael Osekre and two local collaborators — Quiana Webster and Dj Leone, both active participants in Oakland’s Afrobeats and R&B scenes — the Oakland event will feature local chefs and caterers competing on behalf of Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Here’s how it works: Anyone can pay a $10 general admission ticket to take part in the day’s festivities, which will include a range of West African food vendors; booths selling clothing, jewelry and art; and various cultural performances and family-friendly activities. But attendees who want a vote will have to buy a higher-tier ($45) ticket, which gives access to a blind tasting of jollof rice samples from each of the competitors.

Since it’s a blind tasting, a voter with roots in, say, Ghana technically wouldn’t be able to just automatically vote for the Ghanaian entry. The judging should be based on taste alone — though savvy jollof heads might still be able to sniff out their own mother country’s representative. For instance, Tijaniqudus explains that Nigerian jollof is famous for its telltale smokiness, so anyone familiar with that taste would have recognized her entry last year after taking one bite: “Oh shit, this is Nigerian jollof!” And Ralphina Seymoun, who represented Gambia at last year’s competition along with her husband Mohamed Bereteh, says she served a special white jollof — made with broken jasmine rice and no tomatoes — that you would only find in Gambia.

Seymon’s San Jose–based catering business, Tutti Fruti Kitchen, didn’t win last year’s Jollof Festival. Gambia is such a tiny country, she explains, that it would be tough to beat out Nigeria in a popularity contest. “But we sold out first,” she says with evident pride. This year Seymoun and her husband will switch gears and compete on behalf of Bereteh’s native Sierra Leone. It’s a simpler style of red rice, Seymoun explains, with its main distinguishing feature that the meat and gravy are cooked separately and served on top instead of everything getting stir-fried together.

While the names of her rivals have yet to be released, she’s sure to be up against stiff competition — again, with contenders representing Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia and Senegal also gunning for the crown. Will Seymon’s second time be the charm, allowing Sierra Leone to hoist up the final trophy this year?

The only way to find out, as the event organizers like to say, is to let the jollof wars begin.

Jollof Festival Oakland will take place on Saturday, July 13, 2–7 p.m., at 7th West (1255 7th St.) in West Oakland — though, as the event organizers’ disclaimer notes, “This is an African event, things may run on African time.” Tickets start at $10 — $45 if you want to participate (and vote) in the blind tasting of the competitors’ jollof entries.