A cultural competition to settle the score on who truly has the best jerk and jollof rice has been decided, as Rasta Barista hosted its first-ever Jerk and Jollof Cookoff Competition on Sept. 27.
Local professional and amateur chefs across Madison, many originally from countries throughout the world, came out to the Black Business Hub, 2352 S. Park St., to give the community a taste of their culture’s version of jerk or jollof rice. The dishes are a point of cultural pride around the Caribbean for jerk and Africa for jollof, with slight differentiations — but all swear their country’s is the best. The cookoff looked to finally decide that, in Madison at least, for bragging rights on who truly has the best version of their dish.
“This is something that Madison would really embrace, and they really embraced it,” said Sei Kidau, who is the co-owner of Rasta Barista with his wife, Melissa. “These competitions are held all over the country in places like Houston and Chicago and Atlanta and Los Angeles, but we wanted to show that Madison could participate.”
(Photo by Omar Waheed.)
Around 150 people came out to the first-ever cookoff. The popular demand of the event and the limited capacity of the Black Business Hub led many to be turned away as the aromas from the food filled the building and lines poured out of the event space on the fourth floor.
Six jerk and eight jollof contestants all competed for bragging rights and a prize of $500, but only one could be named the best of each category. A group of judges from organizations like the Urban League of Greater Madison, YWCA Madison and sponsors of the event evaluated each dish through a blind tasting.
This year’s inaugural winners are Tyrice Somersett’s Cuddy Rugga Cultura Cuisines for jerk chicken and The Smiling Coast Cuisine’s jollof rice.
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
Sommersett brought his United States take on jerk — creating a win for the diaspora. He didn’t have much to say about his win as he remained quiet and confident with his dish.
The Smiling Coast Cuisine brought out its Gambian-style jollof to take home the championship. Muhammed Cole, owner of The Smiling Coast, received an African-themed pot-style trophy as he claimed best jollof rice in Madison this year.
“This is the first of many that we will be doing,” Kidau said. “We had an overwhelming response. This was way beyond our wildest dreams.”
The Jerk and Jollof Rice Cookoff Competition is planned to be an annual event.
