Ghana Beats Nigeria in Rice Contest

By Michael D. Abayateye

Ghana beat Nigeria to win the Onga Jollof Battle which came off in Accra on Saturday.

The initiative by food seasoning brand Onga, under Promasidor Ghana Limited, was aimed at settling a long standing debate on social media, regarding which country prepares the best jollof.

At the end of a very interesting battle, the judges ruled in favour of the Ghanaian, Chef Sika Mortoo who pulled out 277 points representing 92 per cent as against her opponent, Chef Turay's 227 points representing 75 per cent.

Three judges, Chef Balo, Chef Love Ansah and Yehshen Naidoo all ruled in favour of the Ghanaian who dazzled the judges with her outstanding presentation of the Ghanaian jollof.

For her prize, Chef Sika walked away with USD2000 while the runner up, Chef Turay received USD1000 for her efforts.

Speaking after the event, Managing Director at Promasidor Ghana Limited, Mr Festus Tettey, commended the winner for her exploits adding that, "This has settled the debate once and for all, and definitely Ghana has the best jollof."

Food, he said, was very important in our culture and having had the opportunity to work in both Ghana and Nigeria, both countries were passionate about jollof rice. Though the history is from Senegal, he added the Ghana-Nigeria rivalry in jollof had been established.

"We believe that this is something that consumers are passionate about and would be a good platform to have some engagements and hence the event, which has been successful," he stated.

Onga, he said, is about creativity and innovation and has been a solution to providing delicious food and ensure people stay healthy.

"There are many things we could do in both Ghana and Nigeria to enhance our cuisine and we are looking forward to engaging other countries including Senegal to see which country prepares the best jollof," he stressed.

Commercial Director at Promasidor, Samir Sadaoui added that, more of such competitions would be organised in future to engage consumers.

Winner of the battle, Chef Sika expressed gratitude to Onga for bringing Nigeria and Ghana together for the competition which further cements the bond between the two countries.

"I am pleased to win this competition since I know Nigerians also prepare good food. It was a great challenge and hope such events would continue," she added.

The event saw thousands of patrons including other nationals from United States, Senegal and Togo served with different types of jollof as well as gift bags from Onga.

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