Michael W. Twitty

Michael Twitty is a culinary historian focused on the practice and theorizing of African American Jewish culture. Born in Washington, D.C., Twitty grew up in Silver Springs, Maryland, home to a large Jewish community, and was attracted to Judaism at an early age, converting at age twenty-five. He attended Howard University and majored in African American studies and anthropology but did not finish his degree due to financial constraints. Twitty is the author of The Cooking Gene: A Journey through African American Culinary History in the Old South (2017), which won the James Beard award for best food writing and book of the year, and Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew (2022), as well as the cookbooks Rice (2021) and Recipes from the American South (2025).