Who wrote The Cooking Gene, a 2017 book tracing African American and Southern food history?

Michael W. Twitty wrote The Cooking Gene, a 2017 book tracing African American and Southern food history.

Twitty combines memoir, genealogy, travel, and historical research to examine how food connects African, European, and Indigenous traditions in the American South. He follows ingredients and cooking practices while also investigating his own family history and the legacy of slavery.

The book argues that Southern cuisine cannot be understood without recognizing the central contributions of enslaved Africans and their descendants. It discusses crops, plantation labor, barbecue, rice, and other subjects that connect personal identity with larger historical systems. The Cooking Gene won the 2018 James Beard Award for Writing and helped bring food history to a wide general audience.