Last week’s Women and Food: Savouring Taste session was nothing short of delicious for the mind and soul. The conversation, brilliantly guided by Dorrie Wilson, took us deep into the heart of food, culture, memory, and identity with the inimitable Ozoz Sokoh — culinary creative, storyteller, and author of Chop Chop.

Ozoz’s journey into the food world is anything but straightforward. Trained as a geologist, she credits her scientific background with sharpening her senses in the kitchen — the ability to observe, touch, feel and yes, even taste with intention.

When speaking about her book Chop Chop, Ozoz stated, “I wrote the kind of cookbook I would like to read.” With a vast collection of cookbooks herself, she reads them not only for recipes but for the stories they hold. Her own recipes are infused with history, family memories and her personal journey.

On authenticity, Ozoz was refreshingly clear:

" ...obviously it is about conceptualization and looking at it from a historical point of view. One thing I know and understand about cuisine is that it evolves. Ingredients rise and fall in prominence with each generation. But I am authentically Nigerian — not just by heritage, but by lived experience. I’ve lived in many places, but when I come home, whether after a weekend or a long trip, the first thing I crave is Nigerian food”.

Furthermore she sees her approach to food and cooking as both traditional and contemporary, but her Nigerian lens is constant. She credits her mother’s creativity for sparking her curiosity in the kitchen — from frying raw rice until golden before cooking it, to experimenting with spice blends. She also treasures the lessons of her father, whose minimalist approach to flavour was almost the opposite: no stock cubes, no curry powder, no dried thyme — just salt, red palm oil and fresh ingredients.

It was a revelation and inspiring to hold these two culinary worlds side by side — her mother’s innovation and her father’s purism. Both shaped her patience in cooking and her deep understanding of flavour. “From my dad, I learned what onions can really do to a dish,” she reflected.

For Ozoz, cooking is also about preservation; a way to archive family memory, celebrate heritage and share joy. Her work reminds us that food is more than sustenance; it’s a living connection to who we are and where we come from.