The Jollof Wars

Long before anyone was arguing about it online, jollof rice was already a borderless dish. It traces back to the Senegambia region, built on a Wolof one-pot technique — rice cooked down in a tomato-and-pepper stew until it has nowhere left to hide from the flavor. As the method spread along West African trade routes, almost every country that touched it made it their own: different rice, different pepper ratios, different opinions about what belongs in the pot.

The rivalry proper kicks off with Nigeria and Ghana, who have spent decades (and an alarming number of tweets) arguing over whose version has the better smoky base, the right grain, and the discipline not to let it turn into fried rice by accident. Senegal, often credited as the dish's birthplace, watches this fight with the quiet confidence of someone who was right the whole time. Meanwhile Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Cameroon, and the rest of the lineup have all been quietly perfecting their own pot for generations, mostly unbothered by the noise.

Fourteen countries into this card, there's no referee and no trophy — just a lot of grandmothers who are each, somehow, the only one who makes it correctly. Pick your corner and vote.