The Cooking Gene
 |
|
| Author | Michael W. Twitty |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Memoir |
| Published | 2017 (HarperCollins Publishers) |
| ISBN | 9780062379290 |
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South is an American non-fiction book. It was written by Michael W. Twitty and came out in 2017. This book is a food memoir, which means it tells a personal story through the lens of food.
In The Cooking Gene, Michael Twitty explores how the food we call "Southern cuisine" has strong roots in Africa. He uses his own family history and lots of research to show this. The book won two big awards in 2018: the James Beard Foundation Award for Writing and Book of the Year.
Contents
About the Author and His Inspiration
Michael W. Twitty chose to become Jewish. He shares in The Cooking Gene that learning about the history of Jewish cuisine inspired him to write his own book. He wanted to explore the history of African American food in the Southern United States.
Exploring Food and History
The book looks at many important topics connected to food. It talks about genealogy, which is the study of family history. It also discusses slavery, gender, and spirituality. All these topics help explain the story of food traditions.
Twitty also writes about Soul food, which is a type of African American cooking. He connects it to wider African American food traditions and Southern cuisine.
What the Book is About
The Cooking Gene shows how the enslavement of Africans by European settlers deeply influenced food traditions in the Old South. The book shares personal stories, historical facts, recipes, and even folk songs.
A Mix of Cultures in Cooking
The recipes in the book come from African, Native American, and European backgrounds. Twitty also brings his Jewish faith into African American cooking. He highlights how African American cooks added a special African touch to ingredients from Europe and Native America.
He also talks about plants from Africa that are used in cooking. These include sesame, okra, and sorghum.
Michael's Culinary Journey
Michael Twitty shares that he didn't like traditional soul food when he was young. But as he learned to cook, he started to accept his African American heritage. His experiences growing up made him very interested in the culinary arts, which is the art of cooking.
In The Cooking Gene, Twitty describes how African Americans cooked on plantations. He also traveled through the South on what he called the "Southern Discomfort Tour." On this trip, he learned more about his family's past. He also tried to cook meals the way enslaved Africans might have.
Twitty believes that African American cooking techniques have a natural feel to them. He says this is because of the tools and ingredients Africans and their descendants had. His exploration of food history helps people understand the many different ingredients African Americans traditionally ate in the South.
Connecting Jewish and Black Food Traditions
The Cooking Gene also compares Jewish cuisine and Black food traditions. It discusses followers of Judaism in the South. Jewish and Black cooking styles and foods have mixed together over time. This happened in both the Southern and Northern cities of the United States. Twitty shares his personal story of converting to Judaism and how much he loves Jewish food.
