Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to Mexico, Bemigho Reno Omokri, has described Arroz de Hauçá, popularly known as Hausa Rice, as one of the most delicious dishes he has tasted, following his discovery of the meal in São Paulo, Brazil.
Omokri, a renowned social commentator and former presidential aide, shared his experience in a statement, saying the dish was particularly popular in Brazil, especially Bahia, where enslaved Africans from the region now known as Nigeria introduced it into Brazilian cuisine.
He expressed surprise that despite his travels across Nigeria and interest in patriotism, he had never heard of Hausa Rice until his visit to Brazil.
“I initially thought rice was introduced to Hausaland via the coasts of Southern Nigeria. How wrong I was,” he said.
According to Omokri, rice cultivation and consumption in Northern Nigeria date back more than 600 years, with the crop spreading from the Mali Empire and later the Songhai Empire, which once extended into parts of Hausaland.
He also linked the dish to the historical development of Jollof Rice, suggesting that the two meals share connections with the culinary traditions of the Wolof people, who are predominantly found in present-day Senegal.
Omokri said Hausa communities and other people from the region who were enslaved and transported to Brazil by the Portuguese helped introduce the dish to Latin America.
He further suggested that enslaved Africans from the region might have been among the earliest people to introduce rice to South America, although he did not provide historical sources to substantiate the claim.
The former presidential aide also recounted speaking with a descendant of people associated with the Mali Empire, who told him that the word “Hausa” originated from a Songhai term meaning “Southerner”.
Omokri said the account offered another perspective on the historical and cultural connections between Hausaland and the wider West African region.
Describing the taste of Arroz de Hauçá, he compared it to the coconut rice his mother prepared during his childhood, saying the Brazilian delicacy combined elements of coconut rice and Jollof Rice.
He described it as the most delicious food he had tasted from Northern Nigeria, lamenting that he had to travel to Brazil before discovering the dish and its historical associations with the Hausa people.
The account has drawn attention to the historical connections between West African food traditions and Brazilian cuisine, particularly the influence of enslaved Africans on the development of culinary practices in Latin America.
