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ChopJollof
Kenya — Jollof in situ
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Country 17 of 16

Kenya

Jollof /ˈdʒɒl.ɒf/

— The essay · 14 min read

On Kenya: the pot, the patience, the argument.

KNairobi's jollof arrived through Nigerian restaurants and West African university students. It adapted fast — cardamom in, scotch bonnet out, pilau influence everywhere.

The dish arrived at our kitchen the way it arrives at every kitchen — inherited, contested, half-remembered, adjusted. We cooked it the way we were shown, and then we cooked it the way we were corrected, and then we cooked it the way that tasted right. It took us 12 tries before we were willing to print it.

“You cannot see the rice become itself if you are interrupting it.”

— Aunty Nkechi, Surulere

This page is not the final word. It is a footnote on a conversation that has been going on for six hundred years. If we got something wrong, write us a letter. We publish them.

— Keep reading

If you loved Kenya, go to Nigeria next.