About

Who

Ozoz Sokoh – the Kitchen Butterfly – is a Nigerian food explorer, culinary anthropologist and food historian passionate about food in its entirety – cooking, eating, dreaming, researching, writing, photographing and styling it , especially on her blog, Kitchen Butterfly. A ‘Traveller by plate’, she uses foodways – the social, cultural and economic practices relating to the production and consumption of food to explore the world because ‘Food is more than eating’.

You’ll find my artist’s portfolio here – The Art of Kitchen Butterfly.

For the first 9 years of my life, I hated food and really loved sugar. I redefined the concept of food storage and preservation as a child- often going to bed with my dinner in my mouth (which always seemed to miraculously reappear behind the deep freezer!). Ask my mum who can’t believe it when she sees me these days, a little bit round.

A Brief History

‘Thank you Wimpy, you saved my life’. That’s what the headlines should have said in the summer of ’85 when my dad took my older sis and I to Edinburgh. We went to the festival which rocked. We saw the marches, walked in the gardens and caught a glimpse of the floral clock, all on the fateful day when…… hunger struck! I was 9 years old and had never experienced a day’s hunger in my entire life.

This girl suddenly found herself ravenous and starving so that when we arrived at Wimpy, I literally fell on my kid’s meal – something or the other with fries, can’t remember exactly what it was but I ate it and washed it down with Miranda. My dad, in shock watched me for the first time in his entire life, eat my way through a meal with neither threat nor tears! In delight, bless his soul, he asked if I wanted a second meal and having savoured the flavour of junk food, I said yes! yes!! yes!!! and I ate it ALL up. And then I cried.

Full and over-fed to the point of pain. Never before had that happened. My little stomach had been stretched beyond its bounds….and it hasn’t looked back since. Poor thing, ….. sometimes.

Why the name, Kitchen Butterfly?

I’ve evolved in distinct phases – like the butterfly. I am flighty. I am constantly seeking…. content with my life but still in search of more. I am big on combinations – cross-pollinating and cross-fertilisation. I’m big on flavours and textures. I love pretty. And colour.

Eggs CaterpillarChrysalis Flighty

Yet another food blog?

Yes, to add to the millions in the blogosphere! Well, I have too many notebooks. Too many recipes in my head. Uncooked, unloved, unshared. I can’t go on like this. When I discovered that there were other food fiends out there like me, who oohed and ahhed and poohed (over their goofs and gaffes), I realised I didn’t have to stay pen-glued-to-paper. Actually, even though I’d been reading blogs for a couple of years, it never occurred to me to start my own.

And Nigerian cuisine – because you deserve to know about the best, most awesome culinary treasure trove of all the world. 

22 Things

  1. I’m a born foodie… well, forget the 9-year post birth period – they don’t count
  2. I’m always up to and in the middle of something
  3. When he was 2 years old, I thought my son was a natural cook because he was addicted to spoons, till I read Talent is overrated
  4. My daughters love to cook with me – sometimes they don’t eat, can’t eat the things we’ve made like my granary pizza…. sorry no pictures, there’s no need to repeat the miserable feat
  5. I dispel the myth that all Black people can dance
  6. I’m constantly craving something
  7. I hate to throw things away. I’m a proud collector of many a thing – buttons, cookbooks and other ‘things’
  8. I love to shop. I’d rather shop for veg than shoes
  9. I want to teach and lecture about food, about West African food and drink history, and more
  10. Yes, food shopping over all else, especially mason jars
  11. You’ll find me headed to the ‘sales aisles’ when I go into a home shop
  12. I almost always have a pen(cil) and notebook with me
  13. I vacillate between absolute organized chaos (my children used to be my excuse) and compulsive cleaning
  14. I love combinations – food, talk and photos, what more could a girl wish for? Don’t ask me or I’ll tell
  15. I love to take bite-sized slices of life and grow in leaps and bounds
  16. Sometimes I eat a whole dinner standing up, before dinnertime
  17. I am good at improvising
  18. I make a recipe as is…. on very rare occasion
  19. I am addicted to certain herbs and spices – cilantro, green cardamom are two
  20. I love travel and discovering new things
  21. I feel really blessed to be who I am and have all I have
  22. I want more, but I’m thankful to God for today

Contact

All Rights Reserved: All photographs and written content are the property of Kitchen Butterfly © 2009 – 2024, Ozoz Sokoh, unless otherwise stated.

Copyright Guidelines: short excerpts of blog posts are permitted for inclusion in features but must be properly attributed by including my (blog) name and a link back to the post/ page.

Please do not copy my posts – texts and/or photographs without permission, even if you intend to attribute them. Thank you.

More Info? Enquiries, questions, thoughts, suggestions? Email – info@kitchenbutterfly.com

24 Comments

  1. Hello I love your blog and would love to learn more , am an under graduate in my finals writing my project on food language, would love if you could give me any advice, thanks (pc I believe food is more than eating)

  2. Sometimes I feel that I might find my way back to my Nigerian heritage through food, but I am afraid of cooking so badly and thereby proving how unNigerian I really am. Thank you for this blog and your beautifully descriptive writing. It makes me feel brave enough to try cooking again (now that I think I’ve figured out the missing, distinctive favor for my egusi soup (dawadawa maybe?)).

  3. Hi Ozoz. First off, you’ve got an amazing name.

    I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself as a fellow chef. Somehow I ran into your blog a few days ago. I instantly connected to your philosophy around ‘food as more than eating. Happy to know there are others out there who believe food is so much more. For the last few months I’ve been working on getting a menu subscription going to help people thrive through the rediscovery of cooking and eating. I’ve discovered so many people believe planning for meals at home is such a big pain point. As a result they are discouraged and lean toward convenience and poor food choices. I want people to believe food is restorative and fun, not a drag and of low reward. It just takes some minor tweaking and more efficient planning.

    I’ll be first to admit, moving from chef to content creator and putting myself out there has been more challenging than I could imagine. Look forward to connecting.

  4. Thank you for sharing your jollof rice and Nigerian style curry powder recipes and the jollof tutorial video on Food 52. I have a Nigerian friend who does not enjoy cooking. She missed the flavors and aromas of home. A while ago I decided to try to make your jollof as a gift for her. We all enjoyed it so much that it has joined the list of meals we have regularly. My friend tells me that I’m becoming an expert and her family in Nigeria finds it hilarious that this white lady can make a good batch of party rice. I take no credit for the deliciousness. It is all a result of your generosity, skill and remote teaching abilities. So I thank you again. What a gift to be able to awaken a sense memory of home for my dear friend.

  5. I stumbled across your blog as I was internet searching, learning about Nigerian food. I found out through a DNA test that I am 1/4 Nigerian! I did not grow up in even my 1/2 black culture, I was raised by two white parents here in the central portion of the United States. I LOVE to cook. So I decided a great way to learn about this new found portion of my ancestry is through food! I love this blog and can’t wait to try some recipes! I read through the 22 things about you and I swear we are kindrid spirits….they pretty much all fit me! LOL Thank you again, I’m so glad I found your site to help me “cook” and “eat” my way into this beautiful country and culture!

  6. Hi,
    I came across your blog while searching for how to conserve the wild fruits of my youth in eastern Nigerian as well as how to grow some of the tropical fruits I meet here in England (sometimes) such as mangosteen.

    Please can you or any of your reader lead me to the exotic udara oyibo (purple star apple)?

    Many thanks and best regards,

    Donatus

    • Hi Donatus,

      I’ve spent over 1 month in my home town of Aguluezechukwu in Aguata LG, Anambra State. In this time, I discovered that udara oyibo (star apple) grows in our family compound. We have 2 fully matured trees that are currently in season & I enjoy harvesting & eating the fruits.

      However the breed is the one that stays green after it has ripened, not the purple one. I also learnt that the purple one also grows here in Aguluezechukwu. I’m now hoping that I can find the purple one before leaving.

      You can reach me on Twitter via @celestocalculus, if you are still interested in finding the fruit.

  7. I stumbled upon your “Nigerian Dry Produce” blog from 2013 whilst doing some research into sugar cane. Result:Nostalgia.

    I grew up in Gusau and Sokoto in northern Nigeria in the 80’s, moving to Kaduna in the 90’s. I now live near London. My mother is Lebanese, and my father is Nigerian, and I have so many fond memories of the food. The deep fried sweet potato and kose, and the grilled corn, all cooked by the roadside. The pepe soup, the tuwo and mian kuka, the Kuli Kuli, and the suya served with chopped tomatoes and onions (in a torn up cement bag lining), the several varieties of mangos…

    I also recall a particular candy, opaque white in colour, resembling pulled sugar sticks cut up into little disk-like shapes, but i cant seem to remember what they were called…

    Thankfully, at least some ingredients can be found in the multicultural markets of East London, although some of the exotic stuff cant.
    I recall once coming across a vegetable stall selling yams. I asked the stereotypical east London shopkeeper for a yam, to which he promptly replied “For boiling, pounding, or frying?”. Multiculturalism at its finest!

    • Nostalgia is such a beautiful thing. Thank you for writing.

      The candy you speak of – Alewa? Balewa? of pulled sugar. IF that’s it, you’re not alone. We – my oldest daughter and I are obsessed. And wow to that yam comment – the days past! There’s a lot online these days as well and a number of vendors ship out of Nigeria. Let me know if I can help. Best,

      • Yes, Alewa it is!
        And of the commercial sweet varieties we had the Tom Toms, the Trebor mints and Ginger Orange (i only just discovered that Trebor is backwards for Robert…), and the pink Robot chewing gum. I remember when you could get these for only a few Kobo.
        Then the Crest, Bitter Lemon, Mirinda etc, we used to swap over the crates of empties for full ones. And the Fanta in the brown bottle which always stood out, i think it was tonic water or something. There were prizes to be won sometimes if you found a symbol under the bottle cap.
        The Fan ice cream, and the other ice creams you could buy from the person with the coolbox bike.
        Joy soap and the Joy girl adverts, and the premier soap with the slogan “The one soap that’s two soaps in one soap” because you could use it for bathing as well as washing dishes!

        Ok, i’ll stop there. Thanks for reminding me of the name of the sweets.

        • Oh myyyyyyy. That sounds amazing.

          Any memories of Chapman, Green Sands? Walls ice cream? So much we used to have. I remember all of them. Treborrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr with the white, orange and brown pack and orange mints. Sigh. Sigh. So much to remember. I still love Mirinda and yes, that was tonic water in the brown fanter bottle and ginger ale in the green.

          Thank you for bringing it all back x

  8. Oh! I’m so delighted to learn about the ‘you’ behind the food curtains. I’ve been a fan for several years and you’ve been my passive mentor for that long. I’m particularly drawn not only to your vast knowledge about food from different continents but also to your unique expressions with food…
    I love how your philosophy about food is that it’s “beyond eating”, a philosophy we share in common. I constantly envision being impacted by your wealth of knowledge (even beyond food) and on my bucket list is meeting with you when next I come to Nigeria!

  9. Hi, I am a growing Nigerian chef, we think alike and I fell in love with you when I read your farofa piece. I discovered farofa two nights ago and as soon as I saw it on final table I knew it was flavored garri. I literally wrote half of the ideas I had in my note pad and discussed it with my sister. As soon as I saw the piece all my writings were in your piece. From imagining all garri can be, to the similarities between our customer and Latin America and also silencing the small thinkers who feel garri should only be eba. I am so happy to read how exposed you are. You are lucky, I have been in Nigeria all my life all I know about food. I researched my Ass out to learn. I look forward to picking your brain for my insightful ideas. You have a new fan girl!!!

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