soph (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophia_sol) wrote2020-02-13 09:00 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2020-02-13 09:00 pm
The Cooking Gene, by Michael W. Twitty
(Full title is The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, but that wouldn't all fit in the post header)
I first encountered Michael W Twitty not as an author, but as the special guest in a few videos on a youtube channel I follow. Townsends is a channel largely focusing on recreating 18th century American cooking, and when Townsends did a short series on the food of the enslaved in the era, Twitty was the expert they brought in -- a culinary historian who also works as a costumed interpreter*. And I was super impressed by him! And then proceeded to think nothing more of him.
But when someone I know said they'd liked this book and I googled it, I recognized Twitty on the cover and was like HEY IT'S THAT GUY and it immediately bumped the book up my priority list. And now that I've read it I continue to be super impressed by him!
This is a book that combines the history of slavery, the history of soul food, and the history of the author's own family, including some memoir-like elements. All elements work together to create the whole and it's a really fascinating read. The importance for African Americans to be able to find connections to their own history, which was forcefully taken away from them by the injustices of slavery, is meaningfully forefronted.
Twitty has done enormous amounts of research and knows a great deal about the things he discusses in this book, but he's also not afraid to make it obvious how personally he's affected by it all, and he writes about it all in a way that's clear and easy to follow.
Also now I want to try eating a lot of the food he discusses!
* If you're interested, you can see the first video in the four-part series here
I first encountered Michael W Twitty not as an author, but as the special guest in a few videos on a youtube channel I follow. Townsends is a channel largely focusing on recreating 18th century American cooking, and when Townsends did a short series on the food of the enslaved in the era, Twitty was the expert they brought in -- a culinary historian who also works as a costumed interpreter*. And I was super impressed by him! And then proceeded to think nothing more of him.
But when someone I know said they'd liked this book and I googled it, I recognized Twitty on the cover and was like HEY IT'S THAT GUY and it immediately bumped the book up my priority list. And now that I've read it I continue to be super impressed by him!
This is a book that combines the history of slavery, the history of soul food, and the history of the author's own family, including some memoir-like elements. All elements work together to create the whole and it's a really fascinating read. The importance for African Americans to be able to find connections to their own history, which was forcefully taken away from them by the injustices of slavery, is meaningfully forefronted.
Twitty has done enormous amounts of research and knows a great deal about the things he discusses in this book, but he's also not afraid to make it obvious how personally he's affected by it all, and he writes about it all in a way that's clear and easy to follow.
Also now I want to try eating a lot of the food he discusses!
* If you're interested, you can see the first video in the four-part series here
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Also: apparently The Cooking Gene is $1.99 on Kobo right now. Well, that seems fated to be!
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