Ozoz Sokoh

Ozoz Sokoh (born 1976) is a Nigerian culinary writer, food historian, recipe developer, and culinary anthropologist.[1][2][3] She has organized events around Nigerian foodways, including the first World Jollof Day in 2017.

Ozoz Sokoh
Born1976 (age 46–47)
Warri, Nigeria
NationalityNigerian
EducationUniversity of Liverpool
OccupationNigerian food writer
Years active2007 - present
Websitewww.kitchenbutterfly.com

Early life and education

Sokoh was born in 1976 in Warri,[4] on the southern coast of Nigeria. She attended the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria for 3 years, studying Urban and Regional Planning,[5] and left in 1997. She moved to the United Kingdom where she earned a degree in Geology from the University of Liverpool.[6] During her time in the UK, she began cooking Nigerian food to feel closer to home.[7] According to Sokoh, she created her first recipe in 1998 while living and going to school in the UK.[8]

Career

After graduating from the University of Liverpool, Sokoh worked as a geologist. She began a culinary blog, Kitchen Butterfly, and blogged about Nigerian food while she lived and worked in the Netherlands from 2007 to 2011.[9][5] She developed recipes.[8]

Upon her return to Nigeria in 2011, she began researching familiar Nigerian ingredients and their uses from the perspective of culinary anthropology.[1][10][5] She researched and presented a documentary on Agege bread, a staple in Nigeria, for ‘For Africans’.[11]

In 2018 Sokoh created Feast Afrique, an online curated collection of books relating to the culinary history of West Africa and its diaspora.[12][13][8][14] This collection includes a digital library of 240+ West African and diasporic culinary and literary resources.[15][2] She has researched and written about the connections between the foods of West Africa and the foods of nations that engaged in the slave trade.[16]

She organized the first World Jollof Day in 2017.[17] The festival is held to celebrate Jollof rice, a dish that is ubiquitous in West Africa and the region's best known dish worldwide.[18] She has created ‘Eat The Book’ experiences, celebrating African food from African writing by creating the dishes at literary and arts festivals.[19][20] She was the co-organiser of Abori Food System Design Summit, which was held at Alliance Française, Lagos in 2019 and featured food exhibitions, discussions and a farmer's market.[21]

In 2020, while a Forecast mentee, Sokoh produced Coast to Coast, a documentary about the spread of West African food through the diaspora.[2][8]

Personal life

As of 2021 Sokoh lived in Ontario, Canada.[6][8] She has children.[5]

References
  1. "The Lagos blogger delivering delicious dishes". CNN African Voices. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  2. Patterson, J.R. (2021-08-24). "These Chefs Are on a Mission to Decolonize West African Food". Condé Nast Traveler. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  3. "How Food Connects Us To Our Origin". Channels Television. Archived from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  4. "Ozoz Sokoh". SMO Contemporary Art.
  5. Alumona, Kingsley (23 February 2019). "I Spend My Days Exploring Many Dimensions Of Food —Ozoz Sokoh". Tribune Nigeria. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  6. "Ozoz Sokoh". The Spruce Eats. Dot Dash. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  7. "INDLU with KitchenButterfly". Nubia Africa. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  8. Adeniji, Adedoyin (25 July 2021). "Meet Ozoz Sokoh, the Culinary Historian Creating a Digital Archive of West African Food". The Kitchn.
  9. "West International Full Episode #9". YouTube. Holland Expats. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  10. "Introducing Feast Afrique, Ozoz Sokoh's Digital Archive of African Culinary Excellence". Brittle Paper. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  11. "Where Did Agege Bread Come From?". YouTube. For Africans. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  12. "Decolonising culinary legacy of West African food, one recipe at a time". TRT World. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  13. Debczak, Michele. "Feast Afrique, A Digital Archive Dedicated to West African Cuisine, Is Now Online". Mental Floss. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  14. "Feast Afrique dives into African culinary delights". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  15. Madurga, Lucia Diaz. "Feast Afrique: A free online library with the culinary history of West Africa". National Geographic. RBA. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  16. "Culture Diaries: Ozoz Sokoh – Program of African Studies". Northwestern University. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  17. "Lagos food festival shows off Nigeria's 'Jollof' muscle". Africa News. Archived from the original on 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  18. "The History of Jollof Rice". World Jollof Day. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  19. "Africa: Ake Festival - Africa's Leading International Book Festival". Ake Festival. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  20. "Eat The Book". Ake Festival. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  21. "Abori Summit". Abori Summit. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
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