Michael Twitty Bares His Kosher Soul
To award-winning writer, Michael Twitty, food and the past are fundamentally intertwined. It’s the principle that propelled the culinary historian, teacher and scholar to write his first book, The Cooking Gene, a story about his fascinating journey of self-discovery through food and DNA. Learn more about that story here.
But more recently, he sat down with Christopher Kimball in 2022 to discuss his latest work, Koshersoul: Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew. It’s a book that shares the stories and foods of the African and Jewish diasporas—offering a lens into Twitty’s spiritual and culinary journey as an African-American Jew.
Read excerpts from the interview below, and listen to the full episode of Milk Street Radio here.
On the connection between trauma, joy and Jewish and African diasporic food
I think that the first thing you have to think about is food as a means by which people protect themselves, heal themselves, surround themselves, nourish themselves. So, for me, it's like the Jewish diaspora and the African diaspora have these huge groups of people that have made the modern world possible—and there's poverty there, and their success, and this triumph, and all of that—but the food helps you along.
The food helps you get through these massive, horrible things, but also brings people together, helps define the people and who they are. It's never just the food for its own sake, it's always attached to another value of human existence, of comfort, of pleasure, all of it...There is a certain wisdom in being able to understand what is horrible, being able to appreciate the good, and to be able to survive things that aren't so great.
On recipes that reflect the symbiosis between Black and Jewish cultures
I could have basically reproduced Marcie Cohen Ferris’ work, Matzoh Ball Gumbo, and given you one version. But what do Black Jews, what do African-American Jews eat? How do they celebrate? How do they make their own Koshersoul? This is a newer thing, because for these families, these traditions weren't always written down. And now that they are written down, what are they made of?
And their social distinction needs to be considered. For example, the women who worked in other women's kitchens, they didn't always put down on paper the labor they did for white women. In fact, that was kept separate from their personal life. What does it look like when a kugel comes back into the Black community? What kind of fruit, what level of sugariness, spicing goes into that kugel? There weren't that many things made that transferred. But those that did were much more Southern and Black tasting and appearing than other dishes.
On cultural lies that become self-fulfilling prophecies
One of the lies is that everything is lost, that everything has to be handed down. That what we do now doesn't matter. You know, that's one of the things that I got to get out of Koshersoul the most. I was meeting with a Black Hasidic rabbi, and he says to me, "Sure, we have all these amazing, interesting histories that people are very curious about...but at some point, it's about the traditions we're going to make. It's about the merit of the good deeds that we do now and move forward with that matter.“ And so that for me is the new model. It's not always about the myth of, “If you didn't receive it, you don't have it.” What about if you make it?
On defining the Koshersoul tradition
One of the things that I wanted to be very, very, very careful about was not defining a "Koshersoul" tradition. And the reason why is because there are layers here. And sometimes these layers have been forgotten, or misplaced, or undervalued. So, for example, the yam kugel is straight out of Mrs. Mildred Covert and the world that was created when Black women and Ashkenazi Jewish women in the deep south interacted and made recipes together.
The Yassa and Hoppin’ John are very much a return to Black roots and tradition. And these foods can be altered to sort of reflect both tables.
And then of course, there's other ones that are just straight up having fun, like the "Koshersoul Rolls." You know, it's the pastrami, the collard greens, the idea of the spring roll, the very American-ness of it, but also the East Asian influence.
I wanted to make sure that the reader was able to be able to participate in all these different parts of Koshersoul, not just one, and understand that Koshersoul depends on the Koshersoul cook, not the other way around.
On what he’s learned
There's a reason why in Koshersoul I explored the food of white southern Jewish Protestants who convert to Judaism, alongside Black American Muslims, alongside Black American Jews—because all of them have in common very deep Southern heritage and roots. But also, I love an adherence to the traditions.
We could talk about divides and differences all day long, but the fact that these very different groups of people have a very similar outlook—from the time they put on a head covering, to the time they sit down to eat with their loved ones—we see a bigger sense of the human family, the American family, than we often get to look at.
On being an optimist
I don't have a choice. I have no choice in this. This is hard. This is hard stuff to look at day to day. It can turn your stomach, it can make you feel hopeless, or break your heart. And yet, there's something very special about reaching across the table, reaching across the aisle and being in contact with someone who has every reason not to trust you, like you, but has to out of a sense of hope. My feet are in so many different places. And my American-ness makes it possible. My African-ness, my African global-ness makes it possible. My Jewish diaspora-ness makes it possible. Knowing that my family has been through all these different places and continents and people over time has made that possible. And that's what makes it exciting to live.
Quotes have been edited for clarity.
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