Recipes from the American South
- 432 pages
- 16 hours of reading
Michael W. Twitty Book order (chronological)
Michael W. Twitty is a food writer, independent scholar, and culinary historian dedicated to preserving and promoting African American foodways and their African and Diasporic roots. He shares his extensive knowledge and passion for Southern food heritage through his platform Afroculinaria, the first blog devoted to historic African American foodways. His work delves into the intricate connections of identity, history, and food, focusing on the African American impact on Southern cuisine. Twitty's lectures and appearances at institutions worldwide highlight his commitment to uncovering and celebrating these vital cultural traditions.
The James Beard award-winning author of the acclaimed The Cooking Gene explores the cultural crossroads of Jewish and African diaspora cuisine and issues of memory, identity, and food. In Koshersoul, Michael W.
Rice
- 108 pages
- 4 hours of reading
Filling and delicious, rice comes in numerous varieties and offers a vast range of scents, tastes, and textures depending on how it is cooked. Exploring rice's culinary history and African diasporic identity, Michael Twitty shows how to make the southern classics as well as international dishes - from Savannah Rice Waffles to Ghananian Crab Stew.
The Cooking Gene
- 478 pages
- 17 hours of reading
Culinary historian Michael W. Twitty offers a fresh perspective on race through an illuminating memoir that explores Southern cuisine and food culture by tracing his ancestry—both black and white—through food from Africa to America, and from slavery to freedom. Southern food is a cornerstone of American culinary tradition, yet the question of ownership remains a provocative issue in racial discourse. In this memoir, Twitty delves into his family's roots and the complex politics surrounding the origins of soul food, barbecue, and Southern cuisine. He journeys through the tobacco and rice farms of colonial times, plantation kitchens, and the arduous cotton fields, highlighting the struggles his family endured and how food played a crucial role in their survival over three centuries. Twitty weaves together stories, recipes, genetic tests, and historical documents while visiting significant sites such as Civil War battlefields in Virginia, synagogues in Alabama, and black-owned organic farms in Georgia. Through his exploration of ancestral culinary history, he posits that healing can stem from confronting the discomfort of the South's past, revealing the profound ability of food to unite the descendants of the enslaved and their former slaveholders at the table, fostering a shared understanding of America.