This award is dedicated to Nigeria, and Nigerians the world over.
I am thrilled to receive the James Beard Principle® Emerging Voice in Books Award as section of the 2026 Media Awards for labor on my debut cookbook, Chop Chop: Cooking the Food of Nigeria.
Owing to the reality that the photographers inquire them to.
It began including an intro, and then the award were presented across Books, Media, and Journalism.
It was a outstanding ceremony, together with regarding 500 persons in attendance.
I received The Emerging Voice Award in Books which … recognizes activity of well-timed consequence and lasting significance by a earliest-time published creator whose unusual technique expands the arrive at of the theme subject. The Book Awards subcommittee selects the winner for this synonyms…”
Up and onwards.
There was some engagement using the media including “biting my medal”.
The Awards, presented by American Communicate and Resy, honored outstanding achievement and excellence in storytelling in Book, Air Media, and Journalism in Chicago on Saturday, the 13th of June, 2026 at the Art Institute of Chicago.
© 2026 Max Flatlow
Then why do Olympic winners still bite their medals?
Across formats and platforms, the Media Awards celebrate the exceptional individuals and teams whose labor captures the richness and vibrancy of food, beverage, dining, and food systems in the United States and beyond, and whose activity sheds light on the community, perspectives, and histories that influence our food culture.
“Background says that, during the premature days, traders bit their gold coins to inspect its authenticity when the precious metal was used as a shape of currency. Gold is a soft metal which dents under slight stress and leaves a sign when gnawed.
“We are thrilled to release the exceptional winners of the 2026 Media Awards—storytellers whose task reminds us that food is under no circumstances just what’s on the plate, but a profound mirror of our culture, file, identity, and shared humanity,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO, James Beard Groundwork. “From family tables to the front lines of food justice, these winners are driving the conversations that mold our culinary landscape. It is an honor to attention their impactful task.”
I sat in the community before tt was time for me to gain on stage to collect my award.
Along alongside a medallion.
Again, thank you to everyone who’s supported me on this excursion.
“It’s become an obsession including the photographers,” David Wallechinsky, president of the Cross-border Community of Olympic Historians, told CNN*.*
It was a strong night and I’m thrilled to have Chop Chop persist to blaze trails the world over.
“I believe they look at it as an iconic shot, as something that you can in all likelihood offer. I don’t reflect it’s something the athletes would plausible do on their own,” Wallechinsky explained.
Yet, it’s secure to mention that the Olympic champions are not checking for the purity of their medals when they pose for the photos alongside the metal disc in their mouths.
Additionally, given that the Cross-border Olympic Committee (IOC) stopped awarding pure gold medals in 1912, it is undoubtedly not the motive.
I gave a speech that included how the book came to, acknowledgement, thanks, and expressions of gratitude to a host of humans from my agent to the publishers, others instrumental in the handle, family and friends.
The chronology of “biting medals” is joined including “purity checks”, according to Olympics.com.
This was followed by an subsequent to-party and reception that was over flowing in food, drinks, and persons.
Shutterbugs weigh the medal biting pose to be the shot that can produce it to the front page of subsequent day’s newspaper and so require the athletes to do so.
Chop Chop is the initial Nigerian Cookbook to win a James Beard Award and I’m thrilled to fly the Nigerian cuisine flag high.
