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538 reviews for:
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African-American Culinary History in the Old South
Michael W. Twitty
4.12 AVERAGE
538 reviews for:
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African-American Culinary History in the Old South
Michael W. Twitty
4.12 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Every time I read a book like this, I side-eye the history that we learned in school. Did we learn about slavery? Sure, if you count the "oh, it happened but Lincoln came in and all was good" kind of history. Not really the full story by a long stretch. And food history, you can bet we never learned anything in that regard. So I'm left as an adult to try to understand and explore these areas on my own.
Twitty, a food historian, interpreter, chef, and all-around interesting guy, takes you on a journey of his genetics; particularly those that relate to the Southern foodways and the inspiration and traveling of ingredients, methods, and development of new cuisine based on scarcity and availability of products (whether by nature or force).
I will start out to say, if you're looking more for food history, this touches on it a bit, but was much more about genealogy and Twitty's journey through discovering his family. Which isn't bad at all, just maybe not what some will be expecting. There are recipes along with some of the chapters as well; particularly those that relate to passed down Southern cooking.
It's a hard read. And one that really gives you perspective. I particularly like Twitty's commentary on the white ancestors he had and what his relation or takeaways from them, even from a food standpoint might be. That you can still claim your African heritage and acknowledge that there are more countries to claim (although the entry of that genealogy was by force and a tragic part of history all its own).
Definitely an interesting book. I already follow him on social media, but will keep following to learn more about this country's history.
Review by M. Reynard 2023
Twitty, a food historian, interpreter, chef, and all-around interesting guy, takes you on a journey of his genetics; particularly those that relate to the Southern foodways and the inspiration and traveling of ingredients, methods, and development of new cuisine based on scarcity and availability of products (whether by nature or force).
I will start out to say, if you're looking more for food history, this touches on it a bit, but was much more about genealogy and Twitty's journey through discovering his family. Which isn't bad at all, just maybe not what some will be expecting. There are recipes along with some of the chapters as well; particularly those that relate to passed down Southern cooking.
It's a hard read. And one that really gives you perspective. I particularly like Twitty's commentary on the white ancestors he had and what his relation or takeaways from them, even from a food standpoint might be. That you can still claim your African heritage and acknowledge that there are more countries to claim (although the entry of that genealogy was by force and a tragic part of history all its own).
Definitely an interesting book. I already follow him on social media, but will keep following to learn more about this country's history.
Review by M. Reynard 2023
book #34 of 2022: The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South (2017) by African-American Jewish chef, writer, culinary historian, historical interpreter, and educator Michael W. Twitty. I put off reading this book, despite it covering a topic I’m very interested in, because I thought it would a light, entertaining read. wow, was I wrong! it starts out as a charming autobiography of the author, then it moves into an exploration of his genealogy (I don’t support dna tests because the companies that conduct them have been found to share their results with the government and with pharmaceutical companies - see the comments for links to articles, though this wasn’t confirmed until after this book had been published), then it turns into a deep dive discussion of the Atlantic slave trade, through the lens of food, but also a legit historical review. I’ve read a few books on this topic: Alex Haley’s Roots, Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad, Yaa Ghasi’s Homegoing. they were all excellent. this book is just better...way better. the variety of aspects he looks into and addresses, as he retraces his own family’s history, includes: the volume of the slave trade; what slaves were eating on the ships and in various times and regions during slavery; the daily experience of slave life; how rice, tobacco, and cotton are grown; the influence of Native American and West African cuisine on the cuisine of the Southern US, the destruction king cotton wrecked on a stunning range of aspects of African American life; the impacts of cuisine on culture; and on and on. the author is relentless in his research, going unbelievably broad and deep: yes, I have a new researcher crush. his descriptive achievements are breathtaking. he hits funny, poignant, and profound notes without ever beating them to death, lecturing, or making the content in any way cloying. he is a marvelous writer and he’s writing about a fascinating and crucial topic. this is one of the best and most important books I’ve ever read. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
“The book was the recipient of the 2018 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Writing and Book of the Year.”
- Wikipedia
I think it should definitely have won major awards far beyond the narrow realm of cuisine.
one of my favorite quotes:
“…your goal as a chef is you wanna cook like your grandmother”
— Chef Joseph "JJ" Johnson
“The book was the recipient of the 2018 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Writing and Book of the Year.”
- Wikipedia
I think it should definitely have won major awards far beyond the narrow realm of cuisine.
one of my favorite quotes:
“…your goal as a chef is you wanna cook like your grandmother”
— Chef Joseph "JJ" Johnson
informative
reflective
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Michael Twitty, a food historian and chef specializing in African American culinary history and its origins in Africa, invites the reader on a journey into the past. Through the genealogy, stories and recipes of his ancestors, most of whom were enslaved in the American South, Twitty describes crops and other foods common in various regions, where they originated and how they were prepared by the local populations, how life was different for an enslaved population in one place versus another, family stories and lore, and anecdotes from his own life experiences.
I was absolutely fascinated by all of the information Twitty presents in this book, and I would love nothing more than to sit down with him and listen to more stories, as well as learn further details and updates about his personal genealogy research. I'm drawn to books in which people learn more about their own family history, whether by uncovering long-hidden family secrets or through, in this case, labor- and emotionally-intensive research. In addition to his culinary talents, Twitty is a gifted writer, and he earned an automatic follow on social media from me for overall interestingness. And the recipes! More than anything, this book made me hungry, and I am resolved to prepare a few of the recipes myself.
I was absolutely fascinated by all of the information Twitty presents in this book, and I would love nothing more than to sit down with him and listen to more stories, as well as learn further details and updates about his personal genealogy research. I'm drawn to books in which people learn more about their own family history, whether by uncovering long-hidden family secrets or through, in this case, labor- and emotionally-intensive research. In addition to his culinary talents, Twitty is a gifted writer, and he earned an automatic follow on social media from me for overall interestingness. And the recipes! More than anything, this book made me hungry, and I am resolved to prepare a few of the recipes myself.
I didn’t finish this; the concept is great, but it goes downhill after the introduction. I tried, I got more than halfway before stopping, but it just wasn’t worth my time to continue slogging through it. This desperately needed an editor — there’s no apparent organization, despite many obvious ways it could have been organized; he contradicts himself and blends his guesses with facts, so much that I lost trust in him as a narrator; it’s impossible to pull a thesis out of the story.
The organization isn’t chronological, topic specific, or anything I could follow: he jumps around between food traditions, different times of his life, stories of miscellaneous ancestors’ lives, snippets of history of a location, etc. without tying any of it together. I didn’t understand the purpose of anything I was reading or why I should care about it; the handful of interesting facts were obscured by pages and pages and pages of mess. For an example, he spends TWO CHAPTERS meanderingly discussing genetic DNA testing, how imprecise and untrustworthy it is, then uses that same testing to sporadically talk through members of his family tree, seemingly arbitrarily deciding which genetic results he believes and which are false results.
I wanted to like this book, I was excited by the concept and the introduction, but unfortunately it was a slog to read. Do not recommend.
The organization isn’t chronological, topic specific, or anything I could follow: he jumps around between food traditions, different times of his life, stories of miscellaneous ancestors’ lives, snippets of history of a location, etc. without tying any of it together. I didn’t understand the purpose of anything I was reading or why I should care about it; the handful of interesting facts were obscured by pages and pages and pages of mess. For an example, he spends TWO CHAPTERS meanderingly discussing genetic DNA testing, how imprecise and untrustworthy it is, then uses that same testing to sporadically talk through members of his family tree, seemingly arbitrarily deciding which genetic results he believes and which are false results.
I wanted to like this book, I was excited by the concept and the introduction, but unfortunately it was a slog to read. Do not recommend.
Interesting history bits and discussion of food, culture, and genealogy. I enjoyed a lot of the information and stories; the author seems smart and knowledgeable and someone I'd love to have a discussion with about anything. The book itself could use a tighter edit, but I switched to audio to just enjoy the info a piece at a time, and that worked ok. 3.5, would be more for a different edit/format.
