Salt & Pepper

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It’s almost blasphemous attaching the word ‘upgrade’ to Jollof rice, I know, but while there’s a time and place for good ol’ party rice — à la Firewood Rice — there are times when you want something a little different, with a little pizzaz. In my opinion, that’s where variations like Salt & Pepper’s Red Jollof (or “Red Rice” as they call it) come in.

On recommendation from a friend, I ordered their signature rice and spicy-sweet barbecue chicken a few days ago. I’ll be honest and say, at a first glance, the whole meal looks unassuming — like lightly-coloured Jollof and a fairly good-looking piece of chicken, but you know what they say about looks and deceit. To say I was impressed with the flavour in this box is putting it lightly. Truth is I’d never quite tasted any similar to Salt & Pepper’s combo.

Literally everyone does grilled turkey these days (it’s like some unspoken mass migration away from chicken happened overnight in Lagos, without warning), so it was nice to have another kind of bird on my plate, for a change. The marinade the chicken was coated in tasted of honey and perhaps barbecue sauce, with a bit of tang that gave it a welcome fieriness. I’d happily have that chicken again, just on its own; it banged.

For the star of the show — Salt & Pepper’s Red Jollof — there’s a snazziness to it I really like, and just by getting a whiff of it, I knew I was in for something special. It feels like it should come in a fancy champagne flute, topped with some shrimp something-or-the-other on a skewer, the way you often see Jollof rice served at events nowadays. What I liked most was the simplicity of the flavours; it’s not your typical dark red, tomatoey smoky Jollof. It’s almost Asian-style long-grain rice that’s seasoned sparingly and topped with just fresh spring onions. Simple ingredients, big flavour — just the way I like it. And for N1850, not *at all* a bad deal.

Basically? I want their recipe so bad. While I try and fail to recreate it at home, though, I’ll have Salt & Pepper on speed dial, like a true junkie.