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A review by milo10000
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
This book alternatively feels beautifully flowing, well written, and moving, and too long and stale. Overall I greatly enjoyed it, and I'm planning on making some of the recipes that Twitty includes.
When this book was recommended to me it was as a culinary history book, and it is that, but it's also much more. Twitty's journey to find himself through his ancestors is universally touching, and the memoirist's lens he uses to do so makes it that much more personal. The parts I thought got a bit dry mostly involved his genetic testing, which is explored at great length with (it seemed to me) varying levels of zeal.
This book and journey is an accomplishment regardless.
When this book was recommended to me it was as a culinary history book, and it is that, but it's also much more. Twitty's journey to find himself through his ancestors is universally touching, and the memoirist's lens he uses to do so makes it that much more personal. The parts I thought got a bit dry mostly involved his genetic testing, which is explored at great length with (it seemed to me) varying levels of zeal.
This book and journey is an accomplishment regardless.