#the cooking gene
Congratulations to Michael W. Twitty’s The Cooking Gene—winner of TWO James Beard Foundation Awards for Writing and Book of the Year!
Post link
I must admit to a slight obsession with culinary historian Michael W. Twitty (“…’kosher soul-rolls’— spring rolls stuffed with collared greens and pastrami — and Senegalese chicken soup featuring matzah balls and peanut butter….”!!! I want to eat that!), who’s forthcoming book,The Cooking Gene: A Journey through African-American Culinary History in the Old South, documents his personal “Southern Discomfort Tour” to explore the complex food culture in the American South/African Diaspora. The Cooking Gene is available for pre-order and comes out in August. -Alisa, Assistant Curator
…One memory, of his African-American ancestors in the South, seems obvious. The other, of Jews enslaved thousands of years ago in Egypt, perhaps less so.
…
“How I became Jewish began through food,” Twitty told JTA during an interview in the lobby of a trendy New York hotel. His Christian mother, whom Twitty describes in his book as “the best challah braider I have ever known,” introduced him to the Shabbat staple early on. At the age of 7, Twitty, who grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., declared himself to be Jewish.
“[T]here are some things that science cannot explain, it’s a calling, it’s a connection, it’s above us,” Twitty said of his childhood interest in Judaism.
Food continued to inform his Jewish journey, which culminated in his conversion at 25. He chose a Sephardi Mizrahi synagogue because he found it the most welcoming as a person of color — and because of its culinary traditions.
“[T]he food was better — and [you can eat] rice on Pesach,” he said, referring to the Sephardi custom of eating rice and other legumes from which Ashkenazic Jews abstain during Passover.
Asked to describe himself, Twitty invents a new word: “Afro-ashke-phardi.”
“I feel African-American brings in the Southern, brings in the mixture of heritage that is African-American and African diaspora,” he said. “I feel like the Ashkenazi, I really do appeal to Hasidic culture, dabbled with it before in my life. And Sephardic and Mizrahi heritage will always be a part of me because it’s where I converted, in a Sephardic and Mizrahi synagogue.”
The kitchen also served as a place for Twitty to discover another identity: as a gay man.
“There was a lot of gay culture in our kitchen,” Twitty writes, citing the show tunes that family members would play while cooking. The kitchen was also the place where he first came out to his mother and aunt.
Twitty’s background is reflected in his unique takes on traditional Jewish food. A Shabbat dinner at his house might include such dishes as “kosher soul-rolls”— spring rolls stuffed with collared greens and pastrami — and Senegalese chicken soup featuring matzah balls and peanut butter….
Read more here: https://www.jta.org/2017/05/24/life-religion/how-this-african-american-jew-uses-cooking-to-fuse-his-two-identities
When I first picked up culinary historian Michael W. Twitty’s book, The Cooking Gene, I admit to feeling a little intimidated. My knowledge of Black Southern foodways and cultural traditions is markedly limited for reasons I have written about before. Furthermore, Twitty put his foot in this book; from cover-to-cover, it numbers over 416 pages and is not easily digestible reading. Some portions…
