I meant to order the snapper but I had Jollof rice on my mind. “Too Close” by Next danced in the air as I lifted my head back in pure bliss tasting the Jollof rice arancini. The crispy exterior crumbled open to reveal layered levity in a way the mac and cheese ball could never.

Last Thursday, as part of a local chef series at Hotel Kinsley in collaboration with Chef Spencer Coplan of Restaurant Kinsley, Chris Weathered, owner of Mill & Main in Kerhonkson, prepared select dishes that were interspersed on the restaurant’s usual dinner menu.

Restaurant Kinsley has been hosting a series of chef collaboration dinners, where Chef Spencer partners with some of Upstate New York’s top culinary talent to create unique, locally sourced menus. The series began with sira ulō, a local Filipino pop-up creating quite the buzz in the Hudson Valley food scene, right now.

I first met Chef Chris while DJ-ing at Mill & Main. We celebrated Ghanaian Independence Day with highlife music and plantain in the Catskills. Last week, he brought his spirited African, Caribbean, and Italian influences to Kingston.

Jollof rice holds within it the vastness of West Africa and the differences that span separate bloodlines. It can accommodate the fluidity of a family kitchen with ingredient availability waxing and waning with the ebbs and flow of life. My paternal family is from Sierra Leone, where the Jollof rice has a rich, smoky, tomato-paste-based sauce that soaks into soft and steaming white rice. The dish dates back to the 14th century Wolof Empire, a powerful coastal state that spanned present-day Senegal and into parts of The Gambia and Mauritania.

After meeting my dad, Jollof rice became my mom’s favorite food. She’s of European descent and praises the depth of flavor as the rice absorbs the flavor all the way through. Mom appreciates the versatility in that a variety of proteins can be used. During a vegetarian stint in my early 20s, the Jollof rice even made way for meat substitutes, as my aunts in Brixton swapped chicken with alternative protein while I lived in London during graduate school.

West African nations battle for bragging rights, each country believing in their take on the regional staple. The Jollof wars stretch beyond the plate. “Jollof derby” is the name given to sporting encounters between Nigeria and Ghana, who have a particularly strong rivalry. That said, I’ve never heard my aunt bad mouth anything except Nigerian Jollof rice — too oily, she says.

I grew up in a place that had very little range for cultural difference. To live in a small town today and invite new friends to share in a West African-inspired meal sent me to bed full — not only from a sense of ancient resonance migrating with me, but also from Jollof rice served two ways.

I grew up on Sierra Leonean and Italian food, so the Italian fusion of the Jollof rice arancini took me to new heights. After my starter, I dove into a large plate piled with a version of Jollof rice that resembled the Ghanaian culinary tradition — lighter in color with less emphasis on the sauce but bright in flavor — accompanied by mushrooms and a cucumber tomato salad topped with a delightfully fried egg. I had to tap out before I finished my entrée to hold room for the classic Kinsley rhubarb and ginger panna cotta.

Editor's note: This is the first installment of Kingston Wire's collaboration with Good Neighbor, a Kingston-based print-and-digital "cooperative publication celebrating all the great arts, culture, and community events happening around Kingston." To read our story about them, click here. To visit their Substack page, click here. Enjoy!

Analise Sesay is Executive Editor for Good Neighbor, a hyperlocal, print-first publication covering Kingston. Under the moniker “Atta,” she DJs research-driven sets, broadcasts transmission art, and co-hosts the African dance party, Aw Di Body?