SOLD OUT
IN-PERSON EVENT
For many adults living abroad, foods from home take on new meaning, playing more than functional roles (alimenta, food as sustenance), extending boundaries that stretch from comfort to identity (comida, food for the soul). In the process of navigating newness, we often encounter little-known histories, make new connections and are transformed by the unearthing.
Every ingredient has a history, and its origins provide meaningful context. These ingredients help us reclaim and reimagine our heritage, encouraging us to make space across global tables.
Led by Nigerian food explorer Ozoz Sokoh (AKA Kitchen Butterfly), along with NYT cooking columnist Yewande Komolafe, join MOFAD and Ace Hotel Brooklyn for a film screening and evening of tastes and discussions exploring memory as resistance, oral history, language, double consciousness, capitalism, culinary colorism, and more.
The program will include a screening of three of Sokoh’s original short films that delve into the colonial constructs of food politics by focusing on West African ingredients such as Rice & Beans, Palm oil & Okro and Sugarcane.
There will be accompanying tastings of Akara (Nigerian bean fritters), Acarajé (Brazilian bean fritters), Arosidosi (Afro-Brazilian rice pudding) along with a sugarcane-based cocktail.
This is an in-person event. Tickets must be purchased online in advance. Tickets will not be available for purchase at the door.
You must show photo ID and proof of COVID vaccine to attend this event.
Doors open at 6:30pm ET. Program begins promptly at 7:00pm ET. 21+.
Ticket includes one taste and one complementary drink. Cash bar also available. We are unable to accommodate dietary restrictions at this time.
OZOZ SOKOH
Ozoz Sokoh is a food explorer and ‘Traveller by plate’ who believes that ‘food is more than eating’.
Central to her work is the unearthing and celebration of Nigerian and West African food and drink history, paying homage to West African ancestors and their expertise, resilience, and creativity.
Her research and documentation also explore the impact of West African intellectual contributions to global development from the American South, through the Caribbean to Europe and Latin America.
In 2020/21, as part of a mentorship with Forecast, she developed work focused on ingredients and 'commodities' - rice, black-eyed beans, okro, palm oil, sugar cane - as they relate to ancient and modern West African history. The outcomes include a series of films which will be screened over a few days, and a site, Feast Afrique which includes an open-access digital library of 240+ books from the 1800s to date.
YEWANDE KOMOLAFE
Yewande Komolafe is a Cooking Columnist for The New York Times. She has worked in a variety of roles in the culinary world, including writing, recipe development and food styling. She is the author of two forthcoming cookbooks: The cookbook inspired by Waffles + Mochi (November 2021), a new children’s show on Netflix from Higher Ground Productions and Everyday Lagos: Nigerian Cooking at Home and in the Diaspora, published in 2023.
DEMO KITCHEN BY ACE HOTEL BROOKLYN
A well-appointed canvas for culinary and community engagement, Demo Kitchen by Ace Hotel is a locus of epicurean culture — dedicated to cooking, connection and above all, community. A light-filled space with floor to ceiling windows, Demo Kitchen features an induction cooking station from Kaliber Innovations, an array of state-of-the-art audiovisual production equipment, and is furnished with custom oak classroom and dining tables crafted by Finnish furniture design collective Made By Choice. Demo Kitchen has capacity for 96 people and is also available for private rental.
WANT TO STAY AT THE ACE HOTEL BROOKLYN?
Use the code "MOFAD" to receive approximately 10% off the Hotel’s best available rate, only at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn. Book here.