Has the celebrity chef “JAMIE Oliver” finally bitten off more than he can chew?

The hashtag #jollofgate began trending as Africans rushed to attack Jamie’s version of the dish.

Readers of Jamie’s website acknowledged that his recipe admitted to having “lots of European twists”, but said it was so different to real Jollof that it looked like a Mediterranean dish.

Nigerian blogger Motley Musings encapsulated the social media storm with a post that read: “How can you gentrify Jollof rice to the extent that it starts looking like paella?”

African countries including Nigeria and Ghana all have different variations of Jollof, but the recipe is thought to originate in Senegal.

Most agree that an authentic recipe requires certain essential building blocks. One Nigerian website offers a simple list of ingredients: Precooked long grain rice, tomato paste, whole tomatoes, a red capsicum, scotch bonnets, vegetable oil, stock, onion, thyme, ground crayfish and curry powder.

But Jamie’s version — posted on his website in June but only recently picked up on — left out many of those ingredients and instead called for coriander, ground white pepper, cherry tomatoes on the vine, chicken thighs, lemon, garlic and parsley.

A recipe posted on BBC Good Food was dismissed as “inaccurate” and “about as Nigerian as the Earl of Doncaster”.

But some Africans said the commenters were overreacting, telling them to “calm down” and stop being dramatic.

Jamie’s website responded: “This is Jamie’s twist on Jollof rice, which as it says it the feature can differ from nation to nation, ‘some using coconut milk, others nutmeg or other earthy spices, some use partminger (an African basil leaf) and some even use Rooibos tea’.

“Lots of Jamie’s recipes are inspired by traditional recipes but with his own twist and style. This is his interpretation of brilliant and well-loved recipe. Let us know what you put in yours!”

Source:http: news.com.au