Family Trees and Recipes
Throughout the United States, a growing
movement of cooks, writers, and
researchers are celebrating and
reinventing African-American cuisine. For
these culinary explorers, food isn't just
about filling our stomachs; it reveals
where we come from, how we gather,
and what we love. As Michael Twitty, chef
and historian, writes in his book The
Cooking Gene: "My entire life I knew, and
many others knew, that our daily bread
was... a taste track of our lives. It is a lie
that food is just fuel."
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What did Michael Twitty gain by tracing his
ancestors' eating habits?
the realization that his ancestors regarded
food as fuel
the recipe for an intricate bread created by
his ancestors
an innovative new menu based on a variety
of influences
a sense of connection to thousands of other
people worldwide