Michael W. Twitty’s cookbook celebrates the South’s sophisticated heritage : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa7%2F13%2Fc2ef779a426db9162dd2a3e1986e%2F20250929-chefmichaeltwitty-071.JPG" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa7%2F13%2Fc2ef779a426db9162dd2a3e1986e%2F20250929-chefmichaeltwitty-071.JPG" class="img" alt="Culinary historian Michael W. Twitty’s new cookbook, Recipes from the American South, pays homage to the rich tapestry of cultures that have shaped Southern cuisine — and keeps a gimlet eye on the region’s complicated history." fetchpriority="high"/> Culinary historian Michael W. Twitty's new cookbook traces the historical past and cultural context for every recipe he shares. Maansi Srivastava/NPR cover caption

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Maansi Srivastava/NPR Michael W. Twitty desires to set the file straight on Southern meals: it is not simply heavy fried meats and candy tea by the pitcher-full. In his new, hefty cookbook that surveys the area, Recipes from the American South, the James Beard Award-winning creator is educating dwelling cooks the way to make meals that higher displays the area's advanced, messy and still-evolving historical past.

I lately spent the day cooking and speaking with Twitty at his dwelling in Virginia. We began out on a cool September morning in Twitty's backyard, the place I admired the large number of produce that he grows. There are peppers. Beans. Corn. Cabbage. All types of herbs. Plus, containers of cotton crops and peanuts, which Twitty grows to acknowledge his enslaved ancestors.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F53%2Fb0%2F40c85e144abc96de4e6cf8bb3697%2F20250929-chefmichaeltwitty-017.JPG" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F53%2Fb0%2F40c85e144abc96de4e6cf8bb3697%2F20250929-chefmichaeltwitty-017.JPG" class="img" alt="A tractor passes by the home of Virginia-based chef Michael Twitty on Sept. 29, 2025 in Fredericksburg, VA. Twitty's new cookbook Recipes from the American South will feature short histories of the recipes alongside the recipes themselves." loading="lazy"/> A tractor passes by Twitty's backyard at his dwelling in Virginia. Maansi Srivastava/NPR cover caption

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Maansi Srivastava/NPR "It is one thing individuals have not seen," he remarked. "It is a part of my heritage. I develop completely different varieties which can be heirlooms. They are not meant for, like, industrial manufacturing. They're simply meant to protect the seed. And present individuals what's what."

From one of many herb beds, he grabbed some contemporary parsley and supplied up a bouquet. It smelled wonderful – vibrant and verdant.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4025x3000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcd%2Fe0%2Fd0858fd6419cb99f583386e17551%2Ftwitty-farm-duo.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4025x3000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcd%2Fe0%2Fd0858fd6419cb99f583386e17551%2Ftwitty-farm-duo.jpg" class="img" alt="Left: An okra plant. Right: A cotton plant. " loading="lazy"/> Twitty grows okra (left) and cotton — amongst different produce. He grows cotton and peanuts to acknowledge his enslaved ancestors. Maansi Srivastava/NPR cover caption

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Maansi Srivastava/NPR Virtually all of the produce we're cooking in the present day is out of his backyard. We're virtually on the finish of tomato season, so these candy little jewels determine prominently in our meal. That is one of many many issues that Twitty desires the broader world to know: Southern meals, at its core, is deeply seasonal.

At the moment, the backyard is completely bursting with okra — the important African vegetable that turned prized within the American South — so we're making okra soup, crimson rice and slow-simmered inexperienced beans in a wealthy, meaty broth. Twitty is Jewish and observant – which he wrote about at size in one in every of his different books, Koshersoul — and we're swapping in beef bacon for the extra conventional pork model.

Twitty's dwelling was cozy and vibrant, filled with a whole lot and a whole lot of books and objects collected from his travels. "This can be a maximalist family," he noticed.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2000x3000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2F57%2F80b496ce410ca9abe18fd9c83d6a%2F20250929-chefmichaeltwitty-016.JPG" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2000x3000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2F57%2F80b496ce410ca9abe18fd9c83d6a%2F20250929-chefmichaeltwitty-016.JPG" class="img" alt="Twitty smells freshly picked parsley from his garden." loading="lazy"/> Twitty smells freshly picked parsley from his backyard. Maansi Srivastava/NPR cover caption

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Maansi Srivastava/NPR We paused on the entrance to his kitchen to admire some mementos held on the wall. He stated it is like an altar.

"So that is my nice grandmother, grandmother and mom's scorching comb. And so I put it like a mezuzah on the door." He pointed to a different object, saying, "My grandmother's church fan, a fan from Ghana."

"I be sure this house is stored sacred to me," he stated. "I perceive it needs to be entered with respect. So that is for the moms."

Every little thing with Twitty is like that — thought of, curated, particular. The recipes, too. Twitty traces the historical past and cultural context for every one he shares in Recipes from the American South. He stated he desires to honor the tapestry of Indigenous, African, European and Asian peoples who created all these dishes by utilizing the methods they already knew with native elements they discovered right here, within the American South.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4025x3000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F44%2Ff8%2Fbb58c9ff47c7b8f573d3560c154c%2Ftwitty-interior-duo.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4025x3000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F44%2Ff8%2Fbb58c9ff47c7b8f573d3560c154c%2Ftwitty-interior-duo.jpg" class="img" alt="Left: A wall is adorned with fans and other artifacts from Twitty's family and his travels. Right: Branches of dried cotton are in a vase next to bookcases stacked high with books." loading="lazy"/> Left: A wall is adorned with followers and different artifacts from Twitty's household and his travels. Proper: Branches of dried cotton are in a vase subsequent to bookcases stacked excessive with books. Maansi Srivastava/NPR cover caption

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Maansi Srivastava/NPR "All of us needed to make do with what we had within the locations that we have been," he stated.

What sort of meals is showcased in his e book? Selfmade New Orleans-style beignet donuts. Chinese language-style collard greens by means of Mississippi. Pickled peaches. Nation captain hen. It is all Southern meals, Twitty famous. And all of the recipes on this hefty tome are accessible to the house cook dinner.

Twitty stated he does not wish to preach on the public, however he additionally wished to acknowledge and educate the area's sophisticated historical past — and he stated that for much too lengthy, Black cooks and meals writers haven't been a part of that bigger dialog.

"An African American author of southern heritage can most undoubtedly inform the story of the Cajuns, the Chinese language from Mississippi, the Kurds, the Latinos, everyone," he stated emphatically whereas slicing okra. "You understand, put everyone in a narrative that tells the story of the South as a household. We're a dysfunctional household, however we're nonetheless a household."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F63%2F6e%2Fbc06e3c64255a870acf4ac52aca1%2F20250929-chefmichaeltwitty-046.JPG" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F63%2F6e%2Fbc06e3c64255a870acf4ac52aca1%2F20250929-chefmichaeltwitty-046.JPG" class="img" alt="Twitty grabs serving bowls from his kitchen cabinet. The cabinet is filled with colorful bowls and plates." loading="lazy"/> Twitty grabs serving bowls from his kitchen cupboard. Maansi Srivastava/NPR cover caption

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Maansi Srivastava/NPR Any dysfunctional, messy household wants some type of catharsis. Twitty stated he finds it each writing on the web page and cooking within the kitchen.

"For me," he stated, "it is psychological well being work. I do not suppose lots of people perceive what it means to be immigrants, what it means to be an exile individuals, what it means to be a diaspora individuals, what it means to be oppressed, what it means to need to work inside the bounds of poverty. And while you do learn to cook dinner that approach and really feel that approach and perceive your self, it is vitally therapeutic. It's extremely corrective."

We lastly sat down within the eating room to benefit from the meal we ready. The flavors have been scrumptious, and all these homegrown meals have been deeply satisfying. And at Michael Twitty's desk, everyone seems to be welcome.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6040x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe8%2F50%2Fd71e60e74be990d001dbce08398c%2Ftwitty-soup-duo-update.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6040x2001+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe8%2F50%2Fd71e60e74be990d001dbce08398c%2Ftwitty-soup-duo-update.jpg" class="img" alt="Left: Twitty slices okra onto a cutting board. Right: The completed Okra Soup from his latest cookbook." loading="lazy"/> Left: Twitty slices okra onto a chopping board. Proper: The finished Okra Soup from his newest cookbook. Maansi Srivastava/NPR cover caption

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Maansi Srivastava/NPR Okra Soup This okra soup is a signature dish of the Tidewater South, starting from Maryland to Georgia. Okra, which got here from West Africa through the Afro-Caribbean world, unites the South with the remainder of the African Atlantic. It's with no roux, and though it may be made with proteins (see the variation), it really works completely as a meatless dish.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 55-60 minutes

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or bacon fat1 massive onion, chopped1 medium inexperienced bell pepper, chopped3 cloves garlic, minced2 cups (330 g) corn kernels, contemporary or frozen1 cup (180 g) diced crimson heirloom tomatoes1 can (28 oz/794 g) diced (chopped) tomatoes4 cups (32 fl oz/950 ml) vegetable or hen stockFine salt and freshly floor black pepper2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter2 ½ cups (290 g) thinly sliced okra½ teaspoon cayenne pepperCooked white rice, for serving DIRECTIONS

In a big Dutch oven (casserole dish) or heavy-bottomed soup pot, warmth the oil over medium-high warmth. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and sauté, stirring sometimes, till translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the corn, contemporary tomatoes, canned tomatoes, inventory, and salt and black pepper to style. Cut back the warmth to low, cowl, and simmer for 30–35 minutes, till the flavors are effectively mixed.

In the meantime, in a medium saucepan, soften the butter over medium warmth. Add the okra, cayenne, and salt and black pepper to style. Sauté, stirring usually, till gentle, about 5 minutes. Take away from the warmth and put aside.

As soon as the broth has completed cooking, add the okra, style, and add further seasoning as most popular. Cowl and cook dinner over medium warmth till the okra is gentle and imbued with the broth, 10–quarter-hour.