Chop Chop

Ozoz was born in Warri, on the southern coast of Nigeria

She didn’t enjoy food until 1985, when she was nine years old. She fell in love with a hamburger and Mirinda at Wimpy’s on Princes Street in Edinburgh

Ozoz did not like Chemistry so opted out of Quantity Surveying, studying Urban & Regional Planning instead at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife until 1997. She loved cooking for her friends.

In 1997, she moved to the UK to study Geology, and fell in love with Chemistry.

During her time in the UK, she discovered food as comfort, and began cooking Nigerian dishes to fight homesickness. In 1998, she created her first recipe, tomato salsa , which she still makes today.

Ozoz worked as a geologist in Nigeria, then moved abroad. In 2009, she began writing Kitchen Butterfly, her food blog while living and working in The Netherlands.

Her interest in travel, recipe research and development deepened with writing.

Her love for food history and its importance as cultural identity began in 2009, 2010 when she discovered Brazilian Acarajé, and its origins in Nigerian Àkàrà . This was a turning point in her food journey.

Upon her return to Nigeria in 2011, she deepened her food research on Nigerian ingredients, techniques, practices and more, in an attempt to document and codify the cuisine, including building Nigeria’s first seasonal produce calendar .

In 2014, she presented her work Journey by Plate at TEDx Port Harcourt. In it, she documents the origins, philosophy and practice of her ongoing #NewNigerianKitchen project.

In the intervening years, Sokoh has created experiences including #EattheBooks , celebrating literary and visual works and translating them to tastes in food and drink, at events and festivals across the world.

Her interest in curatorial work has led to the development of exhibitions including the 2019 Food is More Than Eating Exhibition held as part of the Abori Food System Design Summit.

Sokoh launched Feast Afrique in 2020, an online platform dedicated to the documentation and celebration of West African Food and Drink. A digital library of 250+ West African and diasporic culinary and literary resources are a key part of this work.

In 2021, Ozoz graduated with Honors from the Museum and Cultural Management Program at Centennial College, Canada.

She is a professor of Food and Tourism Studies at Centennial College.