The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South

Michael W. Twitty is a living history interpreter, food blogger, and culinary historian. He majored in African American studies and anthropology at Howard University. Having converted to Judaism in 2002, he also works as a Jewish educator, promoting the foods of the African diaspora and educating others about the influence of African American foodways and about culinary justice. Twitty seeks to preserve African American foodways through seed keeping, the growing of heritage crops, and the raising of heritage breeds. He collaborated with the D. Landreth Seed Company to create the African American Heritage Collection, which consists of seeds for 30 plants connected to African American history and survival.

Twitty first developed an interest in culinary history as a boy while visiting Colonial Williamsburg with his father. Twitty’s blog, Afroculinaria, explores how food plays a role in culture and politics. He divides his blog into two parts: Antebellum Chef and Kosher/Soul. Twitty defines the latter as an approach to identity cooking; he argues that individuals create complex identities that are demonstrated by the foods they prepare and eat. For Twitty, cooking is an inherently spiritual experience, and he is often described as a mystic. He carries a leather pouch, traditionally called a “nation sack,” holding dozens of items that he connects with spiritually.

In 2011, Twitty embarked on his Southern Discomfort Tour, and as he began to explore his heritage, he learned that he was of Mende, Akan, and Irish descent and that his white ancestors were enslavers. During the tour, as Twitty reenacted the labors of his enslaved ancestors, picking cotton and cooking over an open flame, he learned how racism and slavery impacted Southern food. He also calls attention to the impact of enslaved peoples on the Southern culinary trajectory, and he’s worked with culinary giants such as Hugh Acheson to bring the experiences of enslaved workers in plantation kitchens to the forefront of the culinary conversation.

Twitty published The Cooking Gene in 2017. The book received a James Beard Award for Book of the Year. In 2022, Twitty published Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew, showing the connections between Jewish and African American cuisines and cultures. The author rejects the idea that his works are cookbooks. Instead, they attempt to show how food is connected to lived experience, especially for people of color.

Twitty continues to be a part of culinary and social justice conversations. In 2013, he gained media attention for publishing a letter to Food Network chef Paula Deen who was fired for racist remarks. In 2016, Twitty delivered a TED Talk on the link between social justice and food and received awards from Tastetalks for his writing.