Read This Book . . .

When I first read Twitty’s debut, The Cooking Gene, I was blown away by the way he wrote about his ancestry through his perspective as a chef. Food connects us to our cultures, and Twitty uses his commercial genetics test to profile his background and connect to his ancestry through food. The whole reading experience was just stunning.

In Koshersoul, Twitty takes us on a spiritual journey through his connection to his faith and food. These more memoir-ish sections give us a look at different anecdotes from his life that led him to think differently about the food he was cooking. He looks at African Jewish cuisine in a new way, connecting the dots between many different traditional Jewish dishes and cuisines, adding his own twist here and there. 

He also details the history of African and African American Jews and how that has impacted Jewish culture as a whole. He describes how Jewish people of African descent are, and have always been, an integral part of Jewish cuisine. There are so many different experiences among the different diasporas that have created a diverse collection of dishes that Twitty highlights in his cooking. And, of course, Twitty includes dozens of recipes throughout the book, giving readers his own take on much-beloved recipes.

I love reading about all of the different aspects of Twitty’s culture that have led him to become the chef he is today. There’s something so deeply personal about the recipes that he shares with his readers that makes me want to keep reading his writing for ages. So if you love to read about food or culture — or both! — Koshersoul is perfect for you.