Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew

(Paperback)

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Twitty makes the case that Blackness and Judaism coexist in beautiful harmony, and this is manifested in the foods and traditions from both cultures that Black Jews incorporate into their daily lives...Twitty wishes to start a conversation where people celebrate their differences and embrace commonalities. By drawing on personal narratives, his own and others, and exploring different cultures, Twittys book offers important insight into the journeys of Black Jews.Library Journal

A fascinating, cross-cultural smorgasbord grounded in the deep emotional role food plays in two influential American communities.Booklist

The James Beard award-winning author of the acclaimed The Cooking Gene explores the cultural crossroads of Jewish and African diaspora cuisine and issues of memory, identity, and food.

In Koshersoul,Michael W. Twitty considers the marriage of two of the most distinctive culinary cultures in the world today: the foods and traditions of the African Atlantic and the global Jewish diaspora. To Twitty, the creation of African-Jewish cooking is a conversation of migrations and a dialogue of diasporas offering a rich background for inventive recipes and the people who create them.

The question that most intrigues him is not just who makes the food, but how the food makes the people. Jews of Color are not outliers, Twitty contends, but significant and meaningful cultural creators in both Black and Jewish civilizations. Koshersoul also explores how food has shaped the journeys of numerous cooks, including Twittys own passage to and within Judaism.

As intimate, thought-provoking, and profound as The Cooking Gene, this remarkable book teases the senses as it offers sustenance for the soul.

Koshersoul includes 48-50 recipes.

Reviews

In this fascinating book which includes recipes Twitty explores, as he puts it, the intersections between food and identity. Washington Post Twittymakes the case that Blackness and Judaism coexist in beautiful harmony, and this is manifested in the foods and traditions from both cultures that Black Jews incorporate into their daily livesTwittywishes to start a conversation where people celebrate their differences and embrace commonalities. By drawing on personal narratives, his own and others, and exploring different cultures,Twittysbook offers important insight into the journeys of BlackJews. Library Journal a fascinating, cross-cultural smorgasbord grounded in the deep emotional role food plays in two influential American communities. Booklist Serving up a hefty helping of heart and wit, Twittys narrative is thrilling in its originality. Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Michael W. Twitty is the author of THE COOKING GENE, winner of the James Beard award for writing about food and the Book of the Year. He is a highly sought after speaker and consultant (Colonial Williamsburg), and a member of three speaker's bureaus. He has appeared on programs with Andrew Zimmern (Bizzare Foods America), Henry Louis Gates (Many Rivers to Cross), Padma Lakshmi (Taste the Nation) and most recently on Michelle Obama's Waffles and Mochi. He is a TED Fellow and was just named as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer. Michael is also now filming his first MasterClass course, which is slated to premiere in November 2021. Over the past year he has partnered with Atlas Obscura to teach multiple online seminars and was the first guest on a new web series for their food division, Gastro Obscura. Michael will also be a Consulting Producer on a new food competition program coming soon from OWN, and his line of personal spice blends with the boutique supplier Spice Tribe regularly sells out. He lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia.