A group of 2000 people gathered near Washington D.C.'s Union Market for the Jollof Festival, where they participated in blind tastings of jollof rice prepared by local chefs from six countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the United States. The festival aimed to settle a historic rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana over which country makes the best jollof rice. Attendees included people with ties to various West African countries, who shared their opinions on the different samples. A total of 27 local chefs prepared over 2000 servings of jollof rice for the event.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-20,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Which country makes the best jollof rice?
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country → make → rice
D.C. foodies put it to a blind test
It's a heated historic rivalry across West Africa: Which country makes the best jollof rice?
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country → put → rice
Cooks across both Nigeria and Ghana have long claimed to make the best.
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Cooks → claim → best
But chefs in Senegal argue that it originated there in the 14th century – so it must be the best!
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it → argue → century
No fewer than 10 countries offer their own version of the dish; a rich, fragrant rice cooked down with spices, tomatoes and meat.
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countries → offer → spices
On Saturday, two thousand people stood in line near Washington D.C.'s Union Market for a yellow box of six, color-coded taster cups.
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people → stand → cups
The organizers of the Jollof Festival have traveled across the United States to put this debate to the test, gathering thousands of people for blind tastings of regional jollof prepared by local chefs.
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organizers → travel → chefs
Friends Julie Agbasi and Shakesha Coleman came out to sample the variety and compared notes as they tried each one.
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they → come → one
"It bites you at the end!" Agbasi said, after trying one.
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Agbasi → bite → one
"It's very slow – it builds up and then at the end you're like, woo!"
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you → build → end
"My heritage is Nigerian, so we used to eat jollof rice almost all the time," Agbasi said.
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Agbasi → use → rice
"It's delicious, but there are other regions that I'm really looking forward to."
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I → be → that
The rice samples ranged from a bright red to a brighter yellow jollof, flecked with herbs.
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samples → range → herbs
Some patrons felt confident they could guess the country of provenance for each one — others simply enjoyed learning the diversity of jollof possibilities.
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others → feel → possibilities
"You know when you have good jollof and you know when you don't have good jollof!" laughed Maggie Duncan August, an attendee with Ghanaian heritage.
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August → know → heritage
"My favorite jollof is spicy, smoky, it has good meat in it.
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it → have → it
Ghana always stands out as the number one!"
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Ghana → stand → number
The samples were prepared by chefs from the D.C. metro area, hailing from six countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and — for the first time since the competition began in 2017 — the United States.
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competition → prepare → 2017
Many visitors enjoyed the samples, but doubled down on their preferences for the jollof of their spouses, neighbors, or childhoods.
"My sister-in-law is Nigerian, so every holiday we have, she brings her jollof rice.
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she → enjoy → rice
So I'm comparing them all to hers!" said Carla Shelton, who was visiting from Phoenix.
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who → compare → Phoenix
D.C. resident Virginia Richards, 26, wore a red-and-cream-printed Liberian blouse to proudly display her heritage as she stood in line with a group of friends.
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she → wear → friends
"Liberia has the best jollof, and I feel like because we're such a small country, we don't get the hype we deserve – we're a very understated people," Richards said.
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Richards → have → hype
We're not afraid to make it more than just rice with tomato sauce!"
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it → make → sauce
The chefs watched and waited, including 27-year-old chef Mamadou Koité, who looked out the window of his food truck.
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who → watch → truck
Koité and his mother were the chefs behind Senegal's submission to the festival; the family also runs a restaurant in Silver Spring, Md. called the Koité Grill.
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family → run → Spring
The team started cooking at 5 a.m., grilling the lamb and chicken, preparing tomatoes and peppers for the sauce.
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team → start → sauce
When you make it you want to be happy, you want to be joyful," Koité said.
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Koité → make → it
"People are going to taste that."
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People → go → that
Koité says the festival is not about winning or losing.
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festival → say → ?
It's more about bringing people together to appreciate West African food.
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It → bring → food
"It feels like we're really putting ourselves out there, as Africans," Koité said.
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Koité → feel → Africans
"I feel like people are really getting in tune with … what it means to be African, and what it means to know the food and know the culture."
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it → feel → culture
After a six-hour tasting, festival organizers gathered on stage to crown Ghanaian chef Kafui Attakpah as the D.C. festival's winner.
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organizers → gather → winner
It was a third win in a row for Attakpah — and attendees cheered loudly as he accepted a trophy adorned with a small pot of jollof rice.
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he → cheer → rice
Jermaine Foreman-Marshall, who runs a catering company called The Maine Course, represented the United States, and won second place.
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who → run → place
In a day-after Instagram post, he thanked the team for letting an "American cousin" enter the competition.
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cousin → thank → competition
"They didn't know who cooked it.
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who → know → it
They didn't know an American was behind the pot.
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American → know → pot
They just knew that GREEN CUP was hitting!" he wrote.
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he → know → ?
"I came to show my love for the culture, represent respectfully, and prove I've been paying attention all these years."
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I → come → attention
…and 16 more, not listed.
