Tales and tastings of West Africa’s classic rice dish.

This event takes place at the British Library.

Part of our African Caribbean Food Ways Day event. Book a day pass.

Jollof is an institution: a dish of rice seasoned with spices and cooked with pepper, tomatoes and chillies. A mainstay at celebrations and gatherings, it is a fragrant and complex dish so beautiful it works by itself as well as an accompaniment.

Jollof rice has evolved across borders and is eaten across West Africa: the different ways in which it is enjoyed says a lot about the different nations, tribes and movement across the region. We are joined by chefs Khadim Mane, Maria Bradford and Joke Bakare as they tell us about jollof in their respective countries of Senegal – said to be the birthplace – Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The event will feature tastings of each person’s version too, to be eaten alongside the stories and memories of their relationship to the rice dish. 

This event is part of the British Library Food Season 2023. 

Maria Bradford is an award-winning chef, writer and founder of Shwen Shwen catering company, meaning ‘fancy’ in the Krio language. Born and raised in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown, her love of food was cemented in the fresh local ingredients she was surrounded by in her youth. She moved to the UK and settled in Kent, she enrolled at Leiths School of Food and Wine. In July, her debut book Sweet Salone will be published, the first Sierra Leonean cookbook to be published by a mainstream publisher in the UK. In 2022 she was listed in The Observer’s Top 50 in Food, and has written for and been featured in BBC Good Food, Olive Magazine, Women and Home and many more.

This event will not be live-streamed.

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