Chop Chop: Cooking the Food of Nigeria - Hardcover

by Ozoz Sokoh (Author)

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST COOKBOOK OF 2025 This introduction to classic Nigerian home cooking features 100 delicious recipes by food explorer, culinary anthropologist, and Nigerian Native of @kitchenbutterfly fame, Ozoz Sokoh. * Nautilus Book Award Winner *

In Nigeria, the word "chop" is all about food and feasting and "chop chop" a nickname given to someone who loves to eat. And it's no surprise Nigeria has an entire vocabulary dedicated to eating--with more than 50 nationally recognized languages and over 250 ethnicities, Nigeria's food is as rich and diverse as its people.This book reflects the foodways' incredibly flavorful complexity, ingredients, and recipes from all six regions, gathered and showcased in a highly photographic cookbook.

In Chop Chop, author, culinary anthropologist, and Nigerian native Ozoz Sokoh celebrates classic and traditional Nigerian cuisine to underscore the ingredients, flavors, and textures that make it not only beloved, but delicious and easy for the home cook. Featuring:

• A COLLECTION OF CLASSIC AND TRADITIONAL NIGERIAN RECIPES: Think smoky spicy beef suya skewers, egusi soup with greens, restorative pepper soup, jollof rice studded with tomatoes, soft puff puff dough bites, and sweet-tart hibiscus drinks, and more from across the country.
• LEXICON OF NIGERIAN CUISINE: Learn how to shop and cook like a Nigerian and learn about the ingredients integral to Nigerian cuisine, like nuts and seeds, greens, grains, and cereals (especially in the north), roots and tubers (favorites of the south), and proteins that come together on the plate in the form of hearty soups and stews, steamed puddings, salads, rice dishes, fritters, and more.
• ILLUMINATING CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL EXPLORATIONS: With headnotes and sidebars that give important cultural and historical context, including how Nigerian cuisine travelled the globe leaving its mark, you will learn the deep roots behind dishes and drinks, and global foodways connections.
• STUNNING PHOTOGRAPHY: With gorgeous photos from Nigeria's landscapes, food markets, and people, as well as beautiful photography of ingredients and finished dishes, Chop Chop is a cookbook to behold.

Written through the lens of Ozoz's deep connection to the region, Chop Chop will bring Nigeria's food-loving spirit to home kitchens everywhere, so you can travel, by plate.

Author Biography

Ozoz Sokoh is a Nigerian food writer and educator. A geologist by training, she began documenting her food journey on her blog Kitchen Butterfly in 2009. Central to her work is connectedness through food, food sovereignty, cultural identity, reclamation of food systems, and the joy of eating. Her research and documentation explore the roots of Nigerian and West African cuisine, the impact of West African intellectual contributions to global development from the American South, through the Caribbean to Europe, Central and South Americas, and the connection to the Afro-diaspora.

Sokoh has spoken at TEDx and at conferences hosted by the Culinary Institute of America. Her work has been featured in Smithsonian Magazine, Gastro Obscura, CNN African Voices, Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown, among others.

She is a professor of Food and Tourism Studies at Centennial College, Ontario-Canada, where she teaches a variety of courses including Exploration of Foodways. She makes her home with her three teenage children in Mississauga, part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Find her online @KitchenButterfly.