Build Up Your Library With Cookbook Recommendations from Michael Twitty
Michael W. Twitty is a culinary historian, chef, and author. His book Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew (2022) was just named Jewish Book of the Year by the Jewish Book Council. Twitty is also the author of the James Beard Award-winning book The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South (2017). We've compiled reading recommendations from him below. We also invite you to watch his 2019 talk on Black culinary history at NYPL’s Schomburg Center Literary Festival
Please join NYPL’s Food for Thought Book Club on Feb. 16 to discuss Koshersoul.
Quick Links to Michael W. Twitty's Books
Related NYPL Research Guides
Kosher
How To Keep Kosher: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Jewish Dietary Laws by Lisë Stern (2004)
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The Kosher Kitchen: A Practical Guide by Binyumen Frost (2009)
Jewish
Encyclopedia of Jewish Food by Gil Marks (2010)
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The World of Jewish Cooking by Gil Marks (1996)
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The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden (1996)
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1,000 Jewish Recipes by Faye Levy (2000)
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Jewish Cooking for Dummies by Faye Levy (2000)
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The Jewish Cookbook by Leah Koenig (2019)
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Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews by Poopa Dweck (2007)
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Sephardic Cooking: 600 Recipes Created in Exotic Sephardic Kitchens From Morocco to India by Copeland Marks (1992).
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Stella’s Sephardic Table: Jewish Family Recipes from The Mediterranean Island of Rhodes by Stella Cohen (2012)
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I Thought I’d Never Taste This Again: Cuisine of Sephardic Morocco by Mercedes Castiel (2012)
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A Drizzle of Honey: The Lives and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews by David Gitlitz and Linda Kay Davidson (1999)
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The Gefilte Variations: 200 Inspired Re-Creations of Classics from The Jewish Kitchen, with Menus, Stories, and Traditions for the Holidays and Year-Round by Jane Cohen. (2000)
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The German Jewish Cookbook: Recipes and History of a Cuisine by Gabrielle and Sonya Groppman (2017).
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A Taste of The Past: The Daily Life and Cooking of a Nineteenth-Century Hungarian Jewish Homemaker by András Koerner (2004)
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Jewish Cuisine in Hungary : A Cultural History with 83 Authentic Recipes by András Koerner (2018)
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In Memory’s Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of Terezín by Cara DeSilva (1996)
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Rhapsody in Schmaltz: Yiddish Food and Why We Can’t Stop Eating It by Michael Wex (2016)
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The Jewish Holiday Kitchen by Joan Nathan (1988)
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Jewish Cooking in America by Joan Nathan (1998)
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The Foods of Israel Today by Joan Nathan (2001)
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King Solomon’s Table by Joan Nathan (2017)
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Middle Eastern
The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden (2000)
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Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors from My Israeli Kitchen by Adeena Sussman (2019)
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Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking by Michael Solomov (2015)
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الحمص = Hummus: On the Hummus Route a Journey Between Cities, People, and Dreams = חומוס / al-Ḥummuṣ = Hummus: On the Hummus Route: A Journey Between Cities, People, and Dreams = Ḥumus by Ariel Rosethal, Orly Peli-Bronshtein, Dan Alexander (2019)
Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi (2012)
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Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi (2008)
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Falastin: A Cookbook by Sami Tamimi, Tara Wigley; foreword by Yotam Ottolenghi; photographs by Jenny Zarins (2020)
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The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey by Laila El-Haddad & Maggie Schmitt; foreword by Nancy Harmon Jenkins (2016)
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The Palestinian Table by Reem Kassis (2017)
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Zaitoun: Recipes from the Palestinian Kitchen by Yasmin Khan (2019)
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Newish Jewish
The Gefilte Manifesto: New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foods by Jeffrey Yoskowitz and Liz Alpern (2016)
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The Mile End Cookbook: Redefining Jewish Comfort Food, from Hash to Hamantaschen by Noah & Rae Bernamoff; with Michael Stokes & Richard Maggi (2012)
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Jew-ish: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch, a cookbook by Jake Cohen; photography by Matt Taylor-Gross (2021)
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52 Shabbats: Friday night dinners inspired by a global Jewish kitchen by Faith Kramer (2021)
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The 100 Most Jewish Foods: A Highly Debatable List by Alana Newhouse (2019)
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Southern Jewish
Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South by Marcie Cohen Ferris (2005).
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Soul
Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin (2019)
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The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks by Toni Tipton-Martin (2015)
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Black Food: Stories, Art & Recipes from Across the African Diaspora by Bryant Terry and Oriana Koren (2021)
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Between Harlem and Heaven: Afro Asian American Cooking for Big Nights, Weeknights, & Every Day by J.J. Johnson and Alexander Smalls; with Veronica Chambers; photography by Beatriz da Costa; food styling by Roscoe Betsill (2018)
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Soul: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes by Todd Richards (2018)
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Watermelons and Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations by Nicole Taylor (2022)
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Bress ‘n’ Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation Farmer by Matthew Raiford; with Amy Paige Condon; photography by Siobhán Egan; styling by Bevin Valentine Jalbert (2021)
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Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health by Gregory Gourdet (2021)
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The Edna Lewis Cookbook by Edna Lewis and Evangeline Peterson (1972)
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The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis (2006, 13th edition)
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In Pursuit of Flavor by Edna Lewis (1988, 2019 eds)
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The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis, with Scott Peacock (2003)
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Mama Dip’s Kitchen by Mildred Council (1999/2005)
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The Dooky Chase Cookbook by Leah Chase (1990)
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Sylvia’s Soul Food: Recipes from Harlem's World Famous Restaurant by Sylvia Woods and Christopher Styler (1992)
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Sylvia's Family Soul Food Cookbook: From Hemingway, South Carolina to Harlem by Sylvia Woods and family with Melissa Clark(1999)
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Dori Sanders’ Country Cooking: Recipes and Stories from the Family Farm Stand by Dori Sanders (1995)
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Cleora’s Kitchens: The Memoir of a Cook & Eight Decades of Great American Food by Cleora Butler (1985)
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Sweetie Pie's Cookbook: Soulful Southern Recipes, From My Family to Yours by Robbie Montgomery (2015)
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A Real Southern Cook in Her Savannah Kitchen by Dora Charles (2015)
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Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way: Smokin' Joe Butter Beans, Ol' 'Fuskie Fried Crab Rice, Sticky-Bush Blackberry Dumpling, and Other Sea Island Favorites by Sallie Ann Robinson (2003)
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Cooking the Gullah Way, Morning, Noon, and Night by Sallie Ann Robinson (2007)
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Sallie Ann Robinson’s Kitchen: Food & Family Lore from the Lowcountry by Sallie Ann Robinson (2019)
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Grandbaby Cakes: Modern Recipes, Vintage Charm, Soulful Memories by Jocelyn Delk Adams(2015)
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Soul Food Love: Healthy Recipes Inspired by One Hundred Years of Cooking in a Black Family by Alice Randall & Caroline Randall Williams; photographs by Penny De Los Santos(2015)
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Carla Hall's Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration by Carla Hall with Genevieve Ko (2018)
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Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook: A Celebration of African American Cooking by Albert Lukas and Jessica B. Harris, with contributions by Jerome Grant; foreword by Lonnie G. Bunch III; introduction by Jacquelyn Serwer (2018)
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Going Home
The Groundnut Cookbook by Duval Timothy, Jacob Fodio Todd, Folayemi Brown; photography by Toby Glanville & Sophie Davidson; illustration by Duval Timothy(2015)
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The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa by Marcus Samuelsson with Heidi Sacko Walters; photographs by Gediyon Kifle; foreword by Desmond Tutu (2006)
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The Ghana Cookbook by Fran Osseo-Asare & Barbara Baëta; with photos by Fran Osseo-Asare (2015)
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Zoe's Ghana Kitchen: Traditional Ghanaian Recipes Remixed for the Modern Kitchen by Zoe Adjonyoh (2017)
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Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen: An Introduction to New African Cuisine—From Ghana with Love (2021)
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In Bibi’s Kitchen: The Recipes & Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries That Touch the Indian Ocean by Hawa Hassan with Julia Turshen; photographs by Khadija M. Farah & Jennifer May; illustrations by Araki Koman (2020)
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Original Flava: Caribbean Recipes from Home by Craig and Shaun McAnuff (2019)
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Provisions: The Roots of Caribbean Cooking: 150 Vegetarian Recipes by Michelle Rousseau & Suzanne Rousseau (2018)
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Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean & Southern Flavors Remixed by Bryant Terry; photography by Paige Green (2014)
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Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African American Cuisine by Bryant Terry (2009)
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Sweet Potato Soul: 100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice, and Soul by Jenné Claiborne (2009)
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Watch
Here, Michael Twitty discusses his book The Cooking Gene with Therese Nelson, chef and founder of BlackCulinaryHistory.com. Recorded at the Schomburg Center's Literary Festival, 2019.